Like all software, Joomla is regularly updated to ensure the latest security measures and CMS features are employed. Thus, ensuring that your website is utilizing the latest version is important for not only keeping things running smoothly but also for keeping your data safe and secure.

With Joomla 3 being replaced by Joomla 4, we thought it would be appropriate to provide an overview of what clients can expect when upgrading to the latest version. In this post, we’ll discuss the biggest changes and improvements in Joomla 4, why it’s necessary to upgrade, how to prepare for your upgrade, migration considerations, and much more.

The Evolution of Joomla: From 3 to 4

Joomla 3 was released in 2016, and although it was updated regularly, it has been a while since the platform has undergone a major upgrade. But that’s changing as with the latest release of Joomla 4, users can expect many new features, fixes, and security improvements in the CMS platform that they’ve come to love.

Joomla 4 is built on the latest technologies, such as PHP 7, the jQuery JavaScript library, and the Bootstrap 5 front-end framework. It features a new admin interface, a more efficient media manager, a new routing system for better SEO, as well as a completely new template framework and elevated security features, including two-factor authentication.

Joomla 4 has been redesigned to make creating and managing content easier and faster than ever. More specifically, it performs better because it has been optimized for speed and performance, so caching and loading times are faster. Scalability has also been improved, which allows it to handle more traffic, an essential benefit, especially for larger websites. It also delivers improved database performance, thus allowing it to handle large amounts of data with greater ease.

Additional enhancements included in Joomla 4 include:

• Improved codebase that makes it easier to add new features to your CMS
• Improved user interface that’s more modern and delivers improved mobile responsiveness
• Improved media manager featuring drag-and-drop simplicity
• Improved SEO features

Reasons to Upgrade: Why It’s Necessary

Whenever a new version of any piece of software is released, the number one reason for upgrading is the same – upgrading protects you and your data because the latest version utilizes the latest security measures currently available. In most cases, the security upgrades resolve weaknesses that were discovered in the previous version, and they are designed to protect against more modern threats.

Upgrading also ensures that the version you’re using will be supported for some length of time. For instance, official support for Joomla 3 ended on August 17, 2023. As a result, failing to upgrade can leave you more exposed to certain risks.

Upgrading to the latest version of Joomla 4 also provides you with a better user experience thanks to its new, updated interface and easy backend management. And because Joomla 4 is compatible with modern PHP versions and related technologies, your website will be future-proofed for the foreseeable future.

Preparing for the Upgrade

Before upgrading from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4, there are a few steps you should take to prepare, so the process can go as smoothly as possible. These steps include:

1. Backup your Joomla 3 website: This step is important because backing up your website safeguards your data should something unexpected occur
2. Check your server to make sure it meets the requirements for Joomla 4, including PHP (needs at least PHP 7.2), database, and other software
3. Make sure you have the latest Joomla 3.x version (if not update it to 3.10.11)
4. Run the Joomla 4 Pre-Update Check in Joomla 3 to make sure all installed extensions and templates are compatible with Jooma 4

Migration Considerations

When migrating to Joomla 4, there are certain considerations that should be kept in mind. For starters, you should assess your website’s complexity and functionality, as well as its original goals. If you discover that your site has deviated from your initial vision, look at the migration as a means of getting back into focus with your goals, or as a means of bringing it more up to date with your current goals if they’ve changed.

It is also important to note that some users may experience possible challenges in migrating custom code and functionalities. This is because some older extensions may not be compatible with Joomla 4. This is why it is always recommended to run the Pre-Update check in Joomla 3 prior to migrating. Leaving incompatible extensions in place could interfere with the Joomla upgrade and result in a failed upgrade that leaves the site inaccessible. You should upgrade all extensions to meet J4 compatibility or disable or uninstall these plugins before upgrading.

As with any major platform upgrade, you should test Joomla 4 on a staging environment instead of on the live site. Only once you thoroughly review it to ensure that everything is working smoothly and as expected should you copy it over to the live site.

The Upgrade Process

Once any incompatible extensions have been disabled, the upgrade process is fairly straightforward. For the most in-depth step-by-step instruction, you should check out Joomla’s official migration documentation and use their recommended backup and migration tools.

In some cases, certain issues may arise during the upgrade, the two most common being:

• Technical Specifications not met
• Third-party extension incompatibility

Each of these issues is easily remedied by following the advice previously mentioned in this article. Two other common issues involve isClient and isAdmin errors. These errors indicate that you have third-party extensions using isClient or isAdmin, so they should be uninstalled or disabled/unpublished.

If you get a blank screen after migrating, then you should check the page source. If it looks like the complete HTML code is there, then you may have a JavaScript error. Or, if there is no code at all, then it is most likely a PHP error. Check logs/joomla_update.php to see if a proper update was completed. If the site is updated properly, then you can use phpMyAdmin to disable any third-party plugins that you may have overlooked before updating to Joomla 4.

Redesigning vs. Migration: Joomla vs. WordPress

If your site is currently using Joomla 3 and you are looking to upgrade your CMS to a newer platform, then you may be trying to decide between migrating to Joomla 4 versus doing a complete website redesign using WordPress. One thing you can do to help you come to your decision is to evaluate whether your current Joomla website meets your needs.

If you like the ease with which Joomla 3 operates, then upgrading to Joomla 4 will only provide an even better experience. But if you are wanting to try something completely different and your website doesn’t need some of the advance functions available in Joomla, then rebuilding your site in WordPress may be something to consider.

Both Joomla 4 and WordPress come with their own set of pros and cons which should be carefully considered before making your decision.

Joomla Advantages

• Has more advanced user management controls out of the box
• Is more flexible for different types of content, including non-standard content types
• Has multilingual support built-in to the core, while WordPress requires you to use a third-party plugin
• Provides users with multiple templates for different pieces of content instead of one theme

Joomla Disadvantages

• Has fewer professional extensions than WordPress
• Doesn’t offer as many customization options as some other CMSs
• Can experience compatibility issues with extensions due to the core platform undergoing frequent updates
• Has a somewhat complex update/upgrade path

WordPress Advantages

• Is easier to maintain than Joomla
• Has the largest ecosystem of WordPress exclusive plugins and themes
• Has a huge support community consisting of blogs, Facebook groups, and developers

WordPress Disadvantages

• Is so widely used that hackers and other cyber-criminals target WordPress sites most frequently
• Can be challenging to use with certain plugins
• Tends to be slower loading, which can have a negative effect on search engine rankings
• Is too dependent on third party plugins, which can hamper site performance and increase security risks

Rebuilding in WordPress: Is It Necessary?

To determine if rebuilding your website by switching from Joomla to WordPress is necessary, you should first begin by assessing your website’s structure, content, and features. What is the purpose of your website? What are your goals for your site? What type of content and features do you want to share with your audience?

While most advanced websites might be better suited for Joomla’s robust content and media management features, WordPress remains one of the best platforms for blogs.

The downside, however, is that making the migration from Joomla to WordPress doesn’t come without its own set of challenges. A lot of complications can arise during the migration process, which can lead to data loss or website downtime. As a result, the migration process should only be attempted by experienced web developers.

Retaining Joomla: Benefits and Future Prospects

Many users who are already running Joomla 3 may be best served by simply upgrading to Joomla 4. You’ll be working with a more modern version of a platform you’re already comfortable using. You’ll also enjoy the continued support of Joomla’s vast community of users and developers and receive all updates as they’re released to ensure you’re always using the latest, greatest software.

Utilizing Joomla’s unique features and functionalities allows you to create a website that is truly original, easy to manage, and powerful enough to meet all its daily demands.

Post-Upgrade Tasks

Once you have successfully migrated from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4 and conducted a thorough testing of your site, there are a few other post-update activities that you should complete. These include:

• Clear the cache: Open Updates and click on Clear Cache.
• Check the database schema and fix any errors if any appear: Go to the Database Fix page and click on Extensions > Manage > Database, and then click the Fix button
• Check the website’s frontend and backend
• Go to System -> Global Configuration -> Server -> Error Reporting, to “Maximum” option into System Default. Click the “Save” button
• Move your Joomla site from Localhost to the live server – assign the staging site folder to the site domain
• Participate in user training to become familiar with Joomla 4’s exciting new features

Conclusion

In conclusion, we hope this guide has settled some of the concerns or worries you might have had when you learned that support for Joomla 3 was ending. While Joomla 3 might be heading into the sunset, Joomla 4 is here to reignite your love for your website.

With Joomla 4, you will enjoy greater performance, speed, and ease-of-use. Your website will be more secure, modern, and significantly more efficient because its CMS will be supported for years to come. Plus, you’ll continue to be a part of Joomla’s rich ecosystem and its ever expanding community of users.

The post Upgrading from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4 appeared first on Moore Tech Solutions.

Luckily, there are some things you can do to help your website get the attention it deserves, and it all starts by making sure your site is up to date with the latest website design and development trends.

In the Internet landscape, technology is constantly evolving and as a result, so too are user expectations. In this guide, you will learn all about the hottest website design and development trends that you should be factoring into your website build or redesign due to their unique abilities of enhancing user experience and engagement.

#1: Dark Mode and Color Schemes

Dark mode is a feature that exploded in popularity over the last decade, particularly among those users who do a lot of their web surfing on remote devices, like their smartphones or tablets. Dark mode works by inverting the colors of a website or web application, so the background is dark and the text is light.

This design function is popular because it helps reduce eye strain and improves readability in low-light environments. As a side benefit, the dark interface also uses less power, so users who prefer it can conserve battery power on their mobile devices while still enjoying all their usual online activities.

While making your website dark mode ready can improve the user’s experience, implementing creative use of color schemes is essential not only for increasing the visual appeal of your site, but it can also help maximize your branding efforts. If your company logo features distinctive colors, then incorporating those colors throughout your website, apps, and social media channels will create continuity throughout your ecosystem.

#2: Immersive Web Experiences

Two of the more innovative trends to arise in website design and development are tools that allow for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) integration. Augmented reality uses computer-generated content with elements of the real world to create a more engaging experience.

A good example of how this technology works is Amazon’s “See It In Your Room” feature, which superimposes a digital image of a product over the user’s real life living space by using the camera on their smartphone or tablet. Many fashion accessory sites also use the technology, such as those that allow users to try on glasses, shoes, and other apparel virtually without having to place an order. One of the biggest benefits of augmented reality, when used in this way, is a measurable reduction in returned items.

Like augmented reality, virtual reality experiences on websites will also continue to increase over the coming years. This technology is currently a popular feature on many real estate listing sites and Airbnb sites because it enables users to tour a home or rental before scheduling an in-person tour or making a reservation. Incorporating augmented and/or virtual reality technology in your website can help you deliver useful and meaningful content to your audience in an interactive and fun way that can help them make more informed buying decisions.

#3: Minimalist and Micro-Interactions

The minimalist movement has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last few years, both in the real world and online. In the home it focuses on clean aesthetics and a purposeful lack of clutter, which helps reduce stress and improve peace of mind. Online, minimalist web designs focus on limited color palettes and using only as many design elements as needed. Successful implementation of a minimalistic web design means leaving plenty of white space and ensuring that each element is perfectly balanced in how it is presented, so that nothing appears out of place.

Minimalist web design should also rely heavily on subtle animations and micro-interactions that fit with its overall theme and feel. Micro-interactions can help increase engagement without requiring a lot of input from the user. A common micro-interaction that is used by both minimalistic and standard websites alike is a progress indicator, which is designed to keep the user updated, such as on the status of a download or what stage they’re at when completing an online form.

Like micro-interactions, using subtle animations is a great way to provide feedback in the least intrusive way possible. Subtle animations add life to a minimalistic website and make it more visually appealing without overwhelming the user.

#4: Voice Search Optimization

With the increase in reliance on virtual chatbots, like Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s Siri, voice search technology is fast becoming the norm. And while the technology hasn’t made a huge shift over to the website side of things, that will be changing in 2023 and beyond as we expect to see more and more websites integrating voice search as an option to traditional text search.

Adapting your website content for voice-based queries and implementing voice user interfaces (VUIs) for more intuitive navigation will soon become one of the best ways to future-proof your website and make it as user-friendly as possible.

#5: AI-Powered Personalization

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have been used in website development strategies for several years, but like all technology they continue to advance and open up doors for new and exciting opportunities. For example, one of the ways that AI and ML have been changing the way websites are being built has been via their ability to adapt to a user’s habits to deliver a more personalized user experience.

Using AI and ML technology, websites can change how they appear by offering dynamic content recommendations based on a user’s unique behavior. This level of personalization makes a single website capable of providing different experiences to different users. AL and ML can also dramatically improve search functionality, automate tasks, and produce chatbots and virtual assistants that can interact in real-time with users in a more lifelike and responsive way, all of which will help increase user engagement, improve customer support quality, and ultimately drive more conversions.

#6: Responsive and Mobile-First Design

Responsive and mobile-first web design is a trend that allows web pages to automatically adapt to the size and resolution of the user’s device using elements like flexible grid layouts, images, and more. This type of design focus is extremely important for today’s online businesses because it ensures that their websites and web applications are user-friendly and accessible across a wide range of devices. And with 92.3% of Internet users accessing the Internet using a mobile phone or other portable device, taking a mobile-first approach to your website has never been more important.

As if being mobile-friendly isn’t already important enough, providing a responsive and mobile-first website can even improve your search engine result standing. The reason is because Google now utilizes mobile-first indexing on SEO when delivering its search results. It does this by analyzing the mobile version of a site’s content instead of its standardized version for indexing and ranking.

#7: Accessibility and Inclusivity

Accessibility and inclusivity are not just trends, but they are now standard elements (as stated by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)) that need to be incorporated into any website’s design to make it more accessible for people with disabilities. Providing your audience with a site that every visitor can navigate and interact with is essential for not just delivering good customer service and an excellent user experience, doing so can also increase conversion, boost your SEO, and help you reach the widest audience possible.

Some of the ways you can improve accessibility and inclusivity in your website design can include:

• Using strong color contrasts between text and backgrounds to make it easier to read
• Using voice search technology
• Incorporating focus indicators for easier keyboard navigation
• Using labels and instructions with form fields instead of low-context placeholder text
• Using functional alt tags for images

#8: Blockchain and Web Security

Despite global efforts to reduce it, cybercrime is at an all-time high. This is partly due to the tenacity and techno-savviness of today’s hackers, but it is also due in part to the growing number of opportunities for hackers to exploit. For example, websites that aren’t upgraded regularly to incorporate the latest web security measures or those that ask their users to log in via their Facebook account or other social media credentials are only waiting to become victims.

But modern consumers are fast becoming more concerned about who they share their information with, so you don’t want your website to ask for data that you don’t need. You also want to provide your audience with a secure browsing experience by keeping your HTTPS and SSL certificates up to date. And if you store a large database of user information on your servers, then you need to employ next-gen security measures like blockchain and multi-factor identification. Failing in any one of these areas will leave your website exposed and your customer data at risk.

#9: Creative Scrolling and Navigation

Today’s web developers can incorporate innovative scrolling techniques that can help create a more interesting and satisfying user experience, especially in the realms of storytelling and engagement. For example, parallax scrolling is a popular web effect that adds a dynamic touch to certain sections of a webpage. When parallax scrolling is used, it creates an illusion of the media being positioned behind adjacent sections, making the content more engaging. Creative scrolling effects marry usability and intuitive navigation, and when it is done right it can stimulate your audience to keep scrolling.

#10: Sustainability and Green Web Hosting

Record breaking summer temperatures. Increasingly devastating tropical storms. Continually rising sea levels. These are just a few of the very real effects that climate change is having on our planet and if something isn’t done (and quickly), then who knows what type of world we’ll be living in over the coming years. Because of this, consumers have become increasingly aware of how businesses impact the environment, and this includes those in the web hosting field.

Traditional web hosting companies rely on massive server warehouses, which consume tons of energy just to keep their websites up and running. But today, there’s a new trend emerging where more and more web hosting providers are utilizing renewable energy sources to help make the websites they host more eco-friendly. If environmental responsibility is a big part of your company culture, or important to your audience, then in addition to partnering with a green web hosting company, you can go one step further by having your website optimized for energy efficiency.

#11: Typography and Custom Fonts

Incorporating creative use of typography and custom fonts can not only help you establish your brand’s identity, but it can allow you to give your website a unique look and feel that are representative of your company’s culture. For instance, if you want to keep things lighthearted and fun, then choosing a certain font, like a quirky sans serif font, will do the trick.

Using creative typography also allows you to take advantage of nostalgia, if that’s something you want to go for in your website. For many users, nostalgia can be extremely powerful due to the positive feelings it produces, and this can help result in increased conversions. Typography can also be used to help ensure your site’s readability across different devices and screen sizes. The key to success, of course, is choosing the right typography and custom fonts that best reflect your brand.

#12: Data Privacy and GDPR Compliance

One of the biggest things, if not THE biggest thing, that website owners need to be concerned about is keeping up to date with ever-evolving data privacy regulations and user concerns regarding it. In the EU, data security practices need to adhere to the UK’s GDPR, which outlines seven key principles:

1. Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency
2. Purpose limitation
3. Data minimization
4. Accuracy
5. Storage limitations
6. Integrity and confidentiality
7. Accountability

And while the United States has its own set of data privacy standards, practicing GDPR compliance in your website’s design and development will help ensure that you meet and/or exceed them all.

Conclusion

So, to recap, there are no fewer than 12 website design and development trends that you should be factoring into your site in 2023 and beyond, and these include:

1. Using dark mode and color schemes
2. Creating immersive web experiences
3. Utilizing minimalist designs with micro-interactions
4. Incorporating voice search optimization
5. Using AI and ML to increase personalization
6. Focusing on responsive, mobile-first design
7. Increasing accessibility and inclusivity
8. Maximizing web security via blockchain and other tactics
9. Using creative scrolling to make navigation more engaging
10. Designing with energy efficiency in mind
11. Using creative typography and custom fonts
12. Maximizing data privacy through GDPR compliance

It’s also important to remember that the Internet is a constantly changing thing. New trends and technologies will continue to emerge, so maintaining adaptability and staying informed is important for ensuring that your site never falls victim to being dated.

For designers and developers, this means it’s also important to experiment without losing sight of the end-user experience. Every trend that is put into action needs to enhance the user experience. If it doesn’t, then it’s not a trend worth pursuing.

It’s remarkable to think about how far web design and development has come. This is truly an exciting time to be in the industry. With the above trends shaping the current nature of web design and development, it makes it all the more exciting to think about what we can expect next and what the future of the industry holds.

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So, why does digital marketing work so well?

The answer is a little more complex, but the fact that 85% of Americans go online daily, with 31% being online “almost constantly,” is certainly one reason. After all, marketers want to reach consumers where they’re most likely to be and these days, that’s online.

In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at what digital marketing is and why it’s so important for today’s businesses to utilize it.

Is Digital Marketing the Same as Inbound Marketing?

Digital marketing and inbound marketing are often mentioned in the same breath, but while they do have similarities, they are different. For instance, both digital and inbound marketing rely on online tools and delivery systems, such as email and online content.

The difference between the two concepts is digital marketing uses the tools to achieve a goal whereas inbound marketing considers the goal first, then chooses the tools that will best reach their target customer at whatever stage in the sales funnel they are. In other words, digital marketing is designed to convert customers while inbound marketing is designed to attract and nurture leads.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that a marketer must choose between these two strategies. In fact, they are most effective when they are used together.

How is Digital Marketing Deployed?

Traditional marketing used to rely on print, television, and radio, because they were the most common ways people consumed information. But that has all changed when the Internet was formed. While those old resources still exist, the truth is that the Internet is where most people spend their time. Today’s households are more likely to go online for their news and entertainment. For many, most of their social interactions also take place on the web.

As a result, digital marketing is designed to reach consumers all day, every day, no matter where they are online. This strategy involves the targeted displaying of ads on websites, social media networks, search engines, and apps, as well as video marketing, infographics, search engine optimization, PPC advertising, and even affiliate marketing. Email marketing is also considered a type of digital marketing, and it remains a highly effective tool, but it has become less important of a standard since the social media boom.

7 Reasons Why Digital Marketing is Essential for Today’s Business

Digital marketing offers a wide range of benefits that other, more traditional marketing methods can’t compete with. Here are seven reasons why today’s businesses need to include digital marketing in their marketing strategies.

1. It’s more affordable than traditional marketing
2. It has a wider scope, which allows a business to acquire a global audience’s attention
3. It can be hyper-targeted, so ads only reach the desired demographic
4. Results are measurable, and changes can be implemented in real time
5. It levels the playing field, so small businesses can compete with bigger brands
6. It improves sales conversion rates and lead quality
7. It allows businesses to engage instantly with their audiences at every stage

Challenges of Digital Marketing

Despite the benefits, there remain some challenges to digital marketing that businesses need to be aware of. One of the most common is ad blocker technology. Some Internet users use ad blockers, so they don’t have to see pop-ups or banner ads. Another common issue is paid premium services, in which the user can avoid seeing ads by paying the app or service a premium fee.

While these certainly are challenges for the digital marketer, the truth is that new technology and trends emerge so frequently that the tactics being employed by a digital marketer need to be continually evaluated and reevaluated for effectiveness anyway. In this world, what works well one day may not be as effective the next. The good thing is that having a strong foundation in digital marketing enables a marketer to make the changes in their strategy quickly and easily, so they can best optimize their results based on the current environment.

Differences Between B2C and B2B Digital Marketing

The same digital marketing tactics are effective for both B2C and B2B marketers, but how the tactics are used should differ depending on who your target customer is. Here’s why.

B2B clients take longer to make their purchasing decisions. They tend to do a lot of research before buying and as a result, their sales funnel is longer than a B2C customer, who tends to respond better to short-term offers.

B2C customers are more likely to buy based on their emotions and how attractive an offer is, whereas B2B transactions are based more on logic and evidence. Content created for B2C customers should inspire an emotional response and an urge to buy. Content created for B2B clients should be evidentiary in nature and sharable, especially since most B2B purchasing decisions involve more than one person’s input.

Of course, there are exceptions to these general rules. Regardless of whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, you need to look at your target audience and create well-informed online marketing campaigns that speak directly to them and their needs. Doing so ensures your digital marketing efforts are effective and you can capture the attention of the audience you’re trying to reach.

Want to learn more about how digital marketing can transform your business and increase your sales?

Contact Moore Tech Solutions today at 205-414-1902, or click here to schedule a free consultation.

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Technical SEO is a set of practices that improve the technical aspects of your website and make it easier for Google’s web crawlers to index and improve the overall user experience of your website.

SEO is usually divided into three types: on-site, off-site, and technical SEO.

• Off-site SEO refers to practices that happen off-site but still influence your rankings. These practices include creating backlinks and linking your social media to your website.
• On-site SEO is, essentially, technical SEO done on the front end of your website. Practices of this type include keyword research and implementation, URL structuring, header formatting, meta descriptions, etc.
• Technical SEO is a subset of on-site SEO done in the backend of your website. This requires technical knowledge, or, at least knowledge of how navigate a content menagement system such as WordPress or Joomla.

SEO Strategies to Increase Organic Traffic –

Web design templates and web page layout editing using a professional software, collage and paper cut composition

Site Structure and Organization

From what we’ve said, it goes without saying that our primary goal for technical SEO should be to create a structured and well-organized website for crawlers to read. Here’s how to do it.

Optimize XML Sitemaps

Sitemaps are still relied upon heavily by Google for website indexing. By creating a clean and well-organized sitemap, Google can better understand and better index your site’s URLs.

The key to effective XML sitemaps is regular monitoring. As new web pages are being added to your site, your sitemap can become a confusing mess without proper monitoring and updating, making it harder to get your pages properly indexed.

Optimize Site Architecture

A properly optimized website starts with a properly optimized architecture. Always organize your pages with a clear hierarchy in mind. Your most important pages should be at the top, with the less important ones referring to the above them in the pecking order. This way, you’re creating a pyramid-like structure for your website that’s easy to navigate for both bots and humans.

Additionally, implement a standardized URL structure. Your website will consist of several, if not many, pages, and all pages will need a URL. By creating a standardized structure that organizes your URLs in groups, you are also boosting the navigability of your website.

Crawling and Indexing

We said it before, and we’re saying it again – the best way to increase organic traffic on your website is to have it properly indexed. Here’s how to go about improving your website for indexing.

Maximize Crawling Budget

Crawlers won’t stick around your website forever; they only stick around for a set amount of time, which means you’re working with a limited time frame where your website can be indexed.

One of the best ways to minimize work for the crawlers and maximize your time is by implementing pagination. This tells the crawlers how certain pages on your website relate to each other, making them much easier to read.

Additionally, you should always canonicalize any duplicate content or pages. This makes the pages easily distinguishable from their copies, and they won’t get flagged as plagiarism.

Perform Regular Audits and Monitor in Real Time

One way to keep your website healthy is to perform regular audits.  If you can, set up a real-time monitoring system of your website’s various elements so any errors can be caught early and resolved before the next crawling session.

Organize Structured Data

Structured data on a website refers to the markup of your pages. Correct implementation of markup schemas can lead to better readability of a page and its content, and better visibility overall resulting in higher placement in SERPS and an increase in organic traffic.

Implement Hreflang Tags

Implementation of hreflang tags is an extremely important practice for websites that aim to please an international audience by offering their content in several languages.

Without hreflang tags, your pages will begin to cannibalize themselves, because they’ll be flagged as duplicates. However, with proper tagging, your web pages will be considered alternatives instead, so they won’t displace each other in Google’s index.

Content-Focused Optimization

Content-focused optimization is, perhaps, the easiest set of practices to perform, and they require a little less technical knowledge and a bit more attention to detail.

Fix Duplicate and Thin Content Pages

We already mentioned that tagging and canonicalizing pages fix a lot of problems involving duplicate content, but you should also consider pages with too little content as well. These thin content pages can be a detriment to your website’s overall being, so it’s considered a prudent practice to fill them up with a little bit more content so they meet the standard.

When it comes to duplicates, you can also perform plagiarism checks to ensure the pages don’t share the same content and cannibalize each other.

Improve Headings, Title Tags, and Add Alt Text to Images

This set of practices is the easiest to do, but it requires a bit more time and foresight.

Proper heading implementation and formatting make it much easier for web crawlers to “understand” the contents of your page/blog post so that Google can more easily offer it to readers. Also, your readers will appreciate nice formatting in the first place, leading to better UX, and fewer people bouncing.

Title tags are also important for a similar reason – with proper keyword implementation, your title tags can be a ticket to the top of the SERPs, and they will entice users to interact with your website.

Image alt text is one of the best things you can do if your website is image-heavy. Since bots can’t really “see” pictures (or, rather, what’s on them), creating an alt text that describes the photo is a great technical improvement to your posts/pages.  Additionally, alt text is also used by voice assistants, and people with impaired vision or those that rely on voice assistance will be greatly appreciative of your effort to describe the photos for them.

Page Speed & Performance Enhancements

You can have the most impressive showing of content on your page, but if it takes ten seconds to load, you’re not going to get much traffic. One surefire way to increase organic traffic for your website is by ensuring your site loads fast and performs well.

Compress Your Files

Page size is the determining factor of page load speed. By compressing the files on your website, you’re effectively reducing the amount of data that needs to be loaded, leading to faster load times.

One of the biggest culprits of “fat” websites is images. The higher the quality of the image, the higher the resolution, and the bigger the image file becomes. You might lose a bit of fidelity by compressing images, but you’re improving load times significantly, which matters more.

You can also compress certain CSS and JavaScript files to make them load faster as well.

Limit 3rd Number of Party Plugins

3rd party plugins can be killers of website performance. It is estimated that every 3rd party program you have running on your website is increasing its loading time by 35 milliseconds. That isn’t much on its own, but it can stack up over time and with excessive use of plugins.

So, to combat this, minimize your use of plugins on your site, and only pick those that you absolutely need for the best performance and UX of your site.

Use Asynchronous Loading

Asynchronous loading allows for the loading of HTML elements, scripts, and plugins at the same time by spacing them out evenly. Thus, async loading allows for much smoother performance of your website while keeping the load times relatively quick.

Technical SEO for the Win!

Technical SEO is one of the most rewarding sets of SEO practices one can implement on their website. With these strategies, you’ll be sure to stay on top of the SEO game, and improve your SERPs rankings, ultimately reaching your desired goal – increasing organic traffic to your website!

The post How to Increase Organic Traffic with Technical SEO appeared first on Moore Tech Solutions.

When you pay for Google Ads or any other advertising method, you immediately see where you invested your money since the results start to show up almost instantly (increased traffic, for example).

With SEO, things are different – it takes time and patience – it’s a marathon, not a sprint (you probably heard this already, but it’s true).

It is challenging to say how long it will take for SEO to work because several factors influence the timeframe — competition, backlinks, and the content you’re creating.

Even when you analyze these factors and try to optimize each of them – to find gaps in the competition’s SEO strategy and overcome them, to create solid content and get backlinks from authoritative domains – it isn’t easy to estimate how long it will take until you see the first results and then the full potential of the correctly done SEO.

Still, on average, for most sites, that time frame will be between four months and a year.

Below, we will answer all the questions about the time required for a successful SEO strategy to show results.

What factors impact your SEO strategy’s success?

As we mentioned in the introduction, the factors that affect SEO the most are competition, backlinks, and content. Let’s elaborate on this:

Competition

If you’re selling breast milk candy, you probably won’t have much (if any) competition, but if you’re launching any of the existing products on the market as a new website, you’re going to face a lot of competition.

Positions on Google’s first page are held by sites that do SEO professionally and pay attention to every detail. The more competitors there are, the longer it will take you to climb to the top of the search results.

You can quickly overtake the results on Google’s second or third page, but outranking the top 10 SERP positions will take a lot of time and effort.

To overtake the competition, you will have to be better than them – analyze their activities, look for possible shortcomings, and then try to outdo them.

Backlinks

Backlinks are the basis of off-page SEO and one of the most critical factors for good ranking.

The more backlinks you get from relevant, high-authority sites, the faster you will rank on Google. Keep in mind that quality must always come before quantity. It’s better to have a few strong links than dozens of weak ones or links from suspicious sites.

High-quality links are harder to earn, and they convey part of the authority of the referring site, thus sending a message to Google – “this site is valuable and trustworthy.”

As a new site, paying attention to how fast you get backlinks is essential. You are new, small, and unknown – it will be unnatural for Google if you suddenly get multiple links from eminent authority sites. You can expect a penalty if you violate the Google Webmaster Guidelines rules. Therefore, the speed of building backlinks should be gradual and natural.

Content

Quality content is the basis of SEO, but you probably already know that – “content is king” (Bill Gates).

When it comes to content, there are no rules as to how long it should be. Don’t write meaningless sentences to reach 2,000 words. There’s also no point in posting 300-word articles on popular freelance sites without value.

Keep the content as long as it will take for your readers to get the valuable information or help they need.

Post articles regularly, especially if you have a new site. Consistency is important and signals Google to regularly send crawlers to your site in search of further information.

Interlink relevant content, make regular revisions, and improve incomplete and outdated information. It will significantly speed up your SEO efforts.

How can you tell if your SEO strategy is working?

So, you will write quality content, take care of site performance, add a Google Business Profile and build backlinks, and the results will be visible in 4 to 12 months? That’s not the best idea.

You’ll monitor how your SEO efforts progress by using different tools, so that you can tailor your strategy to suit your site’s specific needs.

Most of the leading SEO tools on the market are multi-functional. They will provide you with meaningful insights such as impressions, clicks, organic traffic, competitor analysis, essential keywords, number of backlinks, domain and page authority, conversions, etc.

Why doesn’t SEO give instant results?

SEO is a slow process, and when you start investing in this type of marketing, you eagerly await to see the return on your investment. However, you have to be patient. Part of the slow process comes from Google, while part is due to technical limitations.

Google has never revealed what system it uses to rank websites. Even top SEO specialists look for interpretations of Google’s announcements, and only its employees know the absolute truth.

So far, we know that the most powerful search engine expects expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) from sites. Therefore, you must strive to position yourself as a leader in your niche to be rewarded with good rankings.

Furthermore, as far as is known, quality content and backlinks play a significant role in ranking. You don’t necessarily need much time to create good content, but link-building does. Here we come to Google again – there are 1.93 billion websites on the internet – yours won’t be crawled and indexed immediately.

The slowness of Google leads us to think that it does not want to reward instant results, so there is no mass use of black hat techniques. SEO is slow – it always has been, and it seems it always will be. Its results, however, are more consistent than those obtained by any other marketing method.

Arm yourself with patience, and your efforts will pay off – of course, only if you cooperate with a reliable SEO specialist or agency (or do your SEO on your own).

Techniques that will make your SEO strategy pay off

As we mentioned in the introduction, SEO is a marathon. As a new participant in the marathon, it is good to know which running technique will surely place you closer to the goal, focused and without wasting energy. We have some tips for you:

1. Do your research. Whether you’re going to do SEO yourself or leave the job to a specialist, keyword and competition research is essential.
2. Create original and valuable content. This phrase is repeated over and over, but it’s more important than you think. It’s not enough to pick good keywords and stuff them wherever possible. You write primarily for readers, not for Google. Google uses artificial intelligence components, like natural language processing, to understand your content better. If it is helpful to the readers, you will be rewarded. If the content is a bunch of jumbled words without order or sense, Google will not value it. So, use keywords, but do so meaningfully and naturally.
3. Interlink relevant articles. Interlinks serve as a guide through your site. They give Google an idea of your ​​structure and page hierarchy. A user who reads a particular article will go to another related page through an interlink, which could answer additional questions he has.
4. Add images, infographics, and video content. This content encourages longer stays on the page and greater user engagement. A long, endless wall of text is tiring to look at, let alone read. Pictures help to enrich the text and make it more attractive. Don’t forget alt tags, so Google can understand what’s in the photos (and you can also rank in image search).
5. Build backlinks. Make an extra effort to connect with administrators of related sites with whom you could exchange links. Over time, if you publish quality content, you will establish yourself as an authority in your niche, and others will link to you without you asking them to.
6. Share content on social networks. 62 billion people use social networks in 2022. By sharing content with your followers, you increase the chances of new readers. That way, you get a new audience and more traffic, which can signal the algorithm to improve your ranking.
7. Make sure the technical aspects of your site are perfect. Today 90% of the global internet population uses a mobile phone for browsing, which leads to the conclusion that you can’t let your site not display well on mobile devices or tablets. Loading speed is also a significant factor. If a site takes more than 2 seconds to load, users will not wait. They will leave it. You can’t afford to lose clients for such negligence, so optimize these elements on your way to better rankings.

Takeaways

Now that you know what factors affect SEO and how to monitor its progress, let’s see if we can give a more concrete answer to the question that bothers everyone – how long does SEO need to start working? As we said, the optimal period is from 4 to 12 months.

Things will move faster if you target long-tail keywords with moderate competition. After 6 months, the results should be measurable – if you have chosen the right SEO strategy, the increase in traffic and conversions will be noticeable.

If there is a lot of competition in your niche, you will need dedicated work and a minimum of a year (and sometimes several years) to get to where you want to be. But the good news is that once established, SEO results last – no one will be able to dethrone yours overnight.

SEO frequently changes, so it is necessary to follow the changes and innovations in Google algorithms and adapt the strategy accordingly.

For non-specialists, it could be an extensive and challenging task because SEO is a complex matter that requires time and dedication.

Popular IT support companies with many years of experience in the optimization field can help you create a unique SEO strategy for your site’s specific needs. It’s up to you to set clear goals – professionals will take care of everything else.

The post How Long Does it Take for SEO to Work on a New Website? appeared first on Moore Tech Solutions.

In case you haven’t heard of Clutch, they are a B2B ratings and reviews platform in the heart of Washington, DC, committed to helping small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses identify and connect with the service providers they need to achieve their goals.

Our team is honored to be chosen for this prestigious award. We would like to express our appreciation to Clutch and their team for making everything possible. To talk more about this, here is the President of Moore Tech Solutions, Inc. Don Moore:

“It is a great honor to be recognized as a Clutch Leader and we are most appreciative. Clutch is a fabulous resource and we are glad to be featured on their website!”

We’d love to hear from you! Drop us a note and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

The post Clutch Hails Moore Tech Solutions, Inc. as one of the Best Web Development Companies in Alabama appeared first on Moore Tech Solutions.

The post Legal Considerations – Does Your Website have to be Accessible? appeared first on Moore Tech Solutions.

A set of guidelines, called Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or (WCAG) have been developed over the years through the W3C Process with the goal of providing a single shared standard for website content accessibility. Around the world, WCAG is not just a recommendation for how online content should be formatted, but it is often codified into accessibility regulations. The current version is WCAG 2.1. There are three levels of WCAG compliance:

• Level A — This is the lowest standards level and includes relatively easy accessibility enhancements to make.
• Level AA — This is the intermediate level and contains enhancements that are more difficult to implement but also includes increased accessibility enhancements.
• Level AAA — This is the highest level and is the most difficult to meet.

Currently, the most common goal for accessibility for most organizations is Level AA.

Section 508

In addition to WCAG, in the United States there are Section 508 Guidelines. These guidelines require federal agencies to make their websites highly accessible. These guidelines are often also used in state and local government, nonprofits, and education spaces.
The Section 508 guidelines are not as comprehensive as WCAG. Generally any developer who complies with WCAG standards will automatically follow Section 508 as well.

Common Accessibility Issues

Websites can be a challenge to navigate due to poor design and programming techniques not only those with disabilities but the general population as well. Some common accessibility Issues include:

• Low contrast – If color contrasts are not distinct enough, vision impaired users may not be able to read the content or fill out text boxes.
• Poor site structure – If a site is full of fancy fonts, flashing banners, and random popups someone with dyslexia will have extreme difficulty navigating the site.
• Images without alt tags (tags describing the image and its contents) – Vision impaired visitors will need this information coupled with a screen reader
• Poorly designed contact us and order forms – Forms need clear labels and supplementary instructions within the forms.
• Mobility impaired or blind users need the ability to navigate the site with the keyboard rather than the mouse.

What to Do?

If you feel like your website does not meet up to WCAG AA, you can reach out to us at Moore Tech Solutions and we can help you to bring your site up to standard using some very easy to implement accessibility tools. For more information on our Website Accessibility tools please read through our full post about it here.

The post Who Creates Accessibility Standards for Websites? appeared first on Moore Tech Solutions.

But you have no option when you are presented with limited details on a post. However, if you find all that you need under one roof, you feel relieved.

When website visitors get all the information they need from one place, they know where to go next time. That is why long-form content works really well. It helps you get repeated visitors, builds online visibility, and boosts social sharing.

But are you ready to create long-form content?

Yes, it sounds painstaking and complicated.

But, don’t worry! We are here to help! In this guide, we will show you some fantastic ways to create detailed content that allows your visitors to stick around.

1. Make a Plan

Since you aim to cover all details of the topic, you should have an outline in mind. Besides this, set some goals before producing the content. They can include what information you like to deliver, who your target audience will be, and how you want to engage them. Once you have answers to all of these questions, you can proceed to the next step of selecting a topic.

Here are some steps to help you select a topic:

• Look at what your competitors are writing about.
• Use tools like Alltop, Content Strategy Generator, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, and Feedly Reader to select the most trending topics.
• Prefer topics with low competition to help you rank easily in search engines.
• Go for a topic that your target market would be most interested in.
• Keep track of what your audience shares.

Maintaining flow in your content sometimes becomes challenging to manage. To resolve this issue, create a well-structured outline. Readers will love getting every new chunk of information connected with the previous paragraph. Thus, they are more likely to stay on your page for a long time.

For instance, if you write on the steps to prepare for an eCommerce site, you cannot randomly write any step. Put the basic steps like pricing plans and product selection first. Then proceed to other ones like payment collection method and shipping options.

You can further expand the topic by creating sub-headings. They will help break down the text and make the content easy to read.

2. Perform In-Depth Research

Your audience will never enjoy reading what they already know. So, try your best to reveal new but helpful information. You can utilize plenty of methods such as:

• Hit the Google search bar and see which information is present. However, be sure to visit only reliable sites. Also, notice the paid searches. If there are many paid ads, people are already doing business related to such topics. See which information they have shared and what their feedback is.
• Check out some online research papers and journal articles. Sharing research and facts will add weight to your information. But, make sure to cite the sources.
• Don’t forget to visit Infographiqs. This platform is solely dedicated to finding infographics over the web. All you need is to type your target topic or keyword.
• Take clues of information from your top competitors.
• Have a look at Google books.
• Use LinkedIn to find the latest news related to your topic.
• Connect with influencers and ask relevant questions.

3. Use an Appropriate Tone of Voice

After doing the research, do not just compile all the facts randomly. Instead, wrap your content in a captivating layout. Deliver every bit of information in a way that you are communicating and resolving your reader’s issue. It is useless if your site has valuable material but fails to keep the readers engaged.

Also, select a tone as per your brand’s identity. Some brands prefer having a friendly casual tone, while others prefer a more professional one, especially in the B2B industry. The style of your content determines how you sound. So, consider: are you more serious or friendly?

For instance, if you write about website design inspirations, you can adopt a friendly tone. However, if you are creating content on the impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, you need to show compassion for the disturbance revolving around the world.

Also, take into account your audience when adopting a particular tone. Know what your target market understands better and select suitable vocabulary, idioms, and phrases.

4. Never Compromise on Visuals

Did you know that a reader forms an opinion about your site in less than 50 milliseconds? This shows how important it is to give a great first impression. But, how will you do it?

Through Visuals!

Though readers love informative content, they want something attractive, engaging, and reader-friendly. So, always add visuals to keep them entertained.

These days content marketers have plenty of choices for visuals such as images, videos, infographics, and screenshots. They can use any that fits their context and budget.

For example, many people hire professional photographers and create custom images for their sites. However, if there are budget constraints, you can also go for stock images for ready pictures at a low price. Several reliable sites like Stock Photo Secrets, Shutterstock, Stock Photos, and iStock offer high-quality pictures in almost every niche imaginable – making the job easy.

Likewise, explainer videos and infographics help convert complex data into easily digestible pieces. Besides this, try using distinctive typography to add focus on particular sentences. Adding screenshots is also an excellent idea for increasing credibility.

5. Proofread

Every time you proofread content, you find some new ideas. So, make sure to polish it at least twice. You can add more examples, use new words, or add catchy phrases to make it sound more tempting. Above all, proofreading will give you a chance to remove all errors.

One mistake can spoil your brand’s identity. This risk will be expensive if you do not proofread.

Wrapping It Up

In summary, the benefits of creating long-form content include enhanced authority, improved search engine visibility, increased audience engagement, and the opportunity for effective storytelling. As a versatile and impactful content strategy, long-form content can play a crucial role in establishing and strengthening an online presence.

The post 5 Best Practices for Creating Long-Form Content appeared first on Moore Tech Solutions.