Blog

SSL, Google’s ‘Not Secure’ warning and your website – what you need to know about adding SSL to your website and how to do it

October 6, 2017

SSL is suddenly a hot topic thanks to Google. So here’s some information to help you make an educated decision about your SSL requirements. Now, anything to do with website security can become quite a complex topic very quickly. So my goal here is to inform you about SSL (giving […]

Website Care Plans for WordPress Sites

May 4, 2017

Website technology changes very rapidly, meaning websites are no longer ‘set and forget’. So just like your desktop software, WordPress (the software that runs your website) must be kept up to date to keep your site working optimally and to make it more secure. Just a few years ago, there […]

Why strong branding leads to a better website design and why it might be time for a re-think about your logo

January 30, 2017

Many a web designer has sat at their computer monitor in quiet despair, looking at a glowing blank screen wondering how on earth they’ll integrate their client’s logo into a website design they can live with. A logo may seem like a small part of a website design, but it […]

Here’s a useful guide for when you’ve been delegated the company website

January 4, 2017

It’s a New Year, and with it, you may have gained a new responsibility – the company website. Now if the website has been a bit of ‘hot potato’ within the business, then things could be a little disorganised. Now, even if you think things are sorted, there’s all of […]

Thinking about buying and using a premium WordPress theme on your website? Here’s a few things you need to know.

December 15, 2016

If you are on a budget, using a Premium WordPress theme from a theme marketplace can seem like a dream solution – you get lots of bells and whistles for a very small monetary investment. Except, based on my past experience assisting clients to do just that, the dream can […]

Be Consistent and Persistent to Ensure a Successful Website

April 30, 2014

Being consistent and persistent is a little maxim I have developed for updating my website. It’s a simple philosophy I apply to my design and content. Like everyone else in business, I’m busy doing the work that makes me money and I can easily let months go by without updating […]

How do websites accidentally go offline and what happens to your rankings?

March 25, 2014

It’s never a good moment when you realise your website has gone off-line, especially if you are not sure how long it’s been down. Most people don’t visit their own website everyday, and unless they have a site monitoring system set up, weeks can go by with the website being […]

A quick fix for when your website is stuck in WordPress maintenance mode

March 11, 2014

Whenever you update your WordPress installation or any of the plugins via the WordPress dashboard, the website goes into ‘maintenance mode’ with a message displayed saying “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.” Maintenance mode is fine if it’s just for a minute, but if you’ve upgraded […]

Mobile Friendly Websites – an introduction to responsive website design and why it’s so important

March 5, 2014

If you have ever viewed a traditional website on a smart phone and had to zoom in and out to read the content, then you have been to a website that is not ‘responsive’. If on the other hand, the content displayed perfectly on your smart phone without any need […]

Beware the extra ‘DNS’ management fee with some overseas domain name registries

March 4, 2014

It really is a case of ‘buyer beware’ when purchasing domain names and services online. What can look like a great cost-saving, can in fact end up costing you more money in the long run. This is particularly the case if you use an overseas registration service for your domain […]

My attempt to write a blog post in fifteen minutes

January 13, 2014

As I write this blog post, it is 11.42am. I’ve just completed my morning’s admin, and finished off the final writing and SEO for a website. It occurred to me, that I should spend the next 15 minutes writing a blog post to see just how far I could get […]

How to register a New Zealand Domain Name

November 27, 2013

Though the process of registering a domain name is quite straight forward there are a few things you need to be aware of. These are things that I keep coming across in my day to day working life as a web designer in New Zealand