Category Archives: News

Website Maintenance Ireland

2Cubed provides website maintenance and website management for 100s of companies across Ireland, from large businesses in Dublin to smaller, regional companies in rural areas. Ensuring that you have an effective website maintenance plan in place is vital if your website is to be safe and successful. Without a website maintenance plan in place you will place your website at risk to malicious threats such as being hacked. As part of our website maintenance plans 2Cubed will schedule changes and security updates to your website to ensure that it is protected and performing efficiently. Whatever the size or scale of your company, we can manage and maintain your website, keeping it updated and secure, leaving you to get on with the day-to-day running of your business. To make things easier for people to outsource their website management to us, we launched our new sister site Website Maintenance which allows new customers to come on board and select the website maintenance package that is suitable for their needs. 2Cubed can help fix your website after it has been hacked, update and secure it with latest patches, install security and SSL certificates, provide web hosting, and set up or migrate email. Our services include:
  • Website Hosting
  • Website Monitoring (Pingdom)
  • Security Monitoring
  • Fixing website hacks
  • Website malware resolution
  • Improving website speed
  • Plugin updates
  • CMS updates
  • Dedicated support channel between 9am-10:30am every morning (support@2cubed.ie)
For information on website maintenance plans and help with your website maintenance and website management needs, contact 2Cubed today!

What is Structured Data?

June 20, 2019
As structured data becomes more important, you are likely to see the term more and more. So what exactly does it mean? And what does it mean for your website? We’ll explain in more detail below. Google and other search engines are always working hard to understand the content on your website. By implementing structured data, you can ensure you give the search engines clear and explicit information, allowing more accurate and descriptive search results for the end user. By doing this, your website visitors may see more rich and interactive results on the search page.   You can see more descriptions of these search results by clicking here – https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/search-gallery Most of the major search engines combined to create a special project Schema.org. The Schema.org website gives more info on how this data is populated and show examples of these ‘schemas’ and how they should be used.

Why does this matter?

Structured Data is an important element of SEO nowadays. Any information you provide to Google in a clear and easy manner, means they gain a better understanding of who you are what your website is about and can only help to increase rankings. At 2Cubed Web Design & Development, we can assist you with any of the needs above, allowing you to take advantage of structured data best practices. We offer a number of services to help you grow your online presence. Check out our list of services – https://2cubed.ie/services/ Contact us today for more information on the services we provide – Contact Us Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon

Google’s Mobile Search Update

You may have noticed a new layout while searching Google recently on your mobile device. Around the end of May, Google released an updated visual layout for the mobile search results page. This refresh was released to introduce a more modern and user friendly layout. Google say “we’re unveiling a visual refresh of the mobile search results page to better guide you through the information available on the web.” This was referenced on the Google blog here. The familiar green font on the ads has now been changed to a black label with a simple ‘Ad’ reference. See below for reference: As you’ll see from the above image, what Google have implemented is an opportunity for companies online to introduce their branding to users on the web before even landing on your site. This is done by using the favicon image which is uploaded on most websites. You’ll generally see this small icon on your browser tab while searching from a desktop or laptop. What does this mean for me? In order to take advantage of this update, you’ll need to make sure your website has an active favicon set and specified. There are some rules behind this:
  • Your website and the favicon need to be crawlable to Google (meaning you need to ensure your site is fully accessible to Google’s Spider). This can be a complicated issue, but we can help you with this if required – Contact Us
  • The favicon should be similar to your overall branding on your website. This will allow users to identify and recognise your brand online with ease.
  • Google will resize your favicon to 16px x 16px. They recommend uploading your file in multiples of 48px square to ensure clarity. For example, 48×48 or 96×96 etc.
  • Any favicon that Google see to be inappropriate will be removed and replaced with a default icon image.
At 2Cubed Web Design & Development, we can assist you with any of the needs above, allowing you to take advantage of this latest Google update. We offer a number of services to help you grow your online presence. Check out our list of services – https://2cubed.ie/services/ Contact us today for more information on the services we provide – Contact Us Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon

Wexford Social Media & Digital Marketing Excellence Award 2019

Wexford Business Awards 2019
March 11, 2019
The Wexford Business Awards which are now in their eleventh year, are county wide awards which recognise the entrepreneurialism, innovation, diversity and talent of businesses across all sectors in the county. The Wexford Business Awards honour Wexford’s industry leaders through the acknowledgement of their innovative business processes, product development, enterprise, sustainability and overall business success. This year 2Cubed are delighted to be the official sponsor for the Wexford Social Media & Digital Marketing Excellence Award. The purpose of the Wexford Social Media & Digital Marketing Excellence Award is to recognize and honour Wexford based businesses who have achieved success in their sales and marketing by successfully utilizing the very best of the latest business thinking, creativity and technology to put themselves apart from all competition and to be number one in the frontier of social media engagement. An independent panel of Judges will come together to discuss and decide who will be the lucky recipient of the 2019 Overall Wexford Business of the Year Award. They will choose the recipient of the  2019 Overall Wexford Business of the Year Award from the pool of winners of each existing category. The winners and runners-up in each of the award categories and the overall Wexford Business of the Year Award 2019 will be announced at the official County Wexford Business Awards Gala Ceremony, on Friday, 24th May 2019 in Clayton Whites Hotel, Abbey Street, Wexford. 2Cubed wish the best of luck to all involved in the 2019 Wexford Business Awards. For any and all website support and queries please contact 2Cubed. You can also call us on 01-9058114 or 051-440425, email hello@2cubed.ie or else get in touch using the live chat on our website! Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon  

LEO Trading Online Voucher

LEO Trading Online Voucher
Category: News
February 12, 2019
The LEO Trading Online Voucher has proven to be a huge success for many of 2Cubed’s clients in the past. The Trading Online Voucher scheme offered by local enterprise offices has proven to be a great support to many businesses and start ups as many have been awarded grants up to €2500 to help grow their business. The purpose behind the Trading Online Voucher scheme is to not only provide financial assistance up to €2500 to aid businesses to trade online but also to provide training and advice on how best your respective business can operate and thrive successfully in an online environment.

Who is eligible to apply for a Trading Online Voucher?

  • The vouchers are targeted at businesses that have a limited online trading presence
  • less than 10 employees
  • turnover less than €2 million
  • applicants must be registered and trading for minimum of 12 months

The Trading Online Voucher is used regularly by businesses for:

  • IT consultation;
  • Development or upgrade of an e-commerce website;
  • Implementing Online payments or booking systems;
  • Purchase of Internet related software;
  • Purchase of online advertising (this purchase cannot make up any more than 30% of approved Voucher costs and can only be drawn down in one payment phase);
  • Developing an app (or multi-platform webpages)
  • Implementing a digital marketing strategy i.e. Social media marketing;
  • Consultation with ICT experts for early stage adopters of online strategy;
  • Training/skills development specifically to establish and manage an online trading activity.

Download the Trading Online Voucher Application Form

To download the Trading Online Voucher application form click here. If you would like your company to benefit from the Trading Online Voucher which covers for funding up to 50% of your expenditure, please contact 2Cubed for more details. You can call us on 01-9058114 or 051-440425, email hello@2cubed.ie or else get in touch using the live chat on our website! Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon

2Cubed Special Update

Website Maintenance Update
Category: News
October 5, 2018
In this special update from 2Cubed we will be sharing some important news and information with you. In this update we will touch on 3 things in particular that 2Cubed will be placing a special focus on in the coming weeks and these are as follows:
  • Upgrading all Websites
  • Updating sites who are compatible to PHP 7.0
  • Applying Purchased SSL Certs
2Cubed are committed to always ensuring their client’s success and security. To stay true to this commitment 2Cubed will be working on all of their websites and upgrading them to not only further enhance their security but also their overall efficiency and performance. If you notice any issues during this period please let us know and we will check if it’s related to our website maintenance and improvement works.  For all sites who are compatible with the newest PHP 7.0 major release we will be updating them to run on this. Up until recently PHP 5.6 was the most modern but with the release of PHP 7.0 this is no longer the case. PHP 7 has many major benefits for websites who have it such as it’s twice the speed of the once most recent version of PHP 5.6 and it was also created with the goal of freeing up space which would lead to improvement on websites. This freeing up of space was done by getting rid of many unneeded functionalities on old and unsupported Server APIs and extensions. If you read our recent newsletter you will know already about the dire importance of having an SSL Cert. In it we mentioned that from August 2018 Google has flagged websites which have not already gotten an SSL Certificate. This was part of the plan first announced at the start of 2018 by Google in its Speed Update which rolled out in July, that it will mark all sites that have not migrated to HTTPS as “not secure.” This change has been brought in by google whose main goal is to ensure their users can safely and securely browse and purchase on the internet. As nowadays people turn to the internet for virtually everything ensuring that users can trust it to be safe is of paramount importance. Online security like having an SSL Certificate is no longer just a good option for a website to have, it’s a necessity. An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. If you don’t have the SSL certificate, a secure connection cannot be established, that means, your company information will not be digitally connected to a cryptographic key. The purchase and application of an SSL cert is a simple but vitally important process that cannot be underestimated as it can be pivotal to the success of your website. To inquire about getting an SSL Certificate for your website to stop it being marked as non-secure please contact 2Cubed today. If you have any questions or queries about any topic we have mentioned in this update or any other general query please do not hesitate to get in touch with 2Cubed!   Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon

Why your website urgently needs an SSL Certificate now!

SSL Certificate
Category: News
July 16, 2018
Does your website have an SSL Certificate? If the answer to this question is no then the success of your website is at serious risk! Google will flag your website from next month (August 2018) if you have not gotten an SSL Certificate. At the start of 2018 Google announced in its Speed Update set to roll out in July, that it will mark all sites that have not migrated to HTTPS as “not secure.” This change has been brought in by google whose main goal is to ensure their users can safely and securely browse and purchase on the internet. As nowadays people turn to the internet for virtually everything ensuring that users can trust it to be safe is of paramount importance. Online security like having an SSL Certificate is no longer just a good option for a website to have, it’s a necessity. An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. If you don’t have the SSL certificate, a secure connection cannot be established, that means, your company information will not be digitally connected to a cryptographic key. When google made this announcement they made it clear and sent a stark warning that if your website does not have an SSL Certificate your website will be marked as not secure in the url bar when people access it. This will of course have a detrimental effect on any website who is branded as such as virtually no user will proceed onto the site as they have lost all trust and they certainly will not buy anything in fear of their card details being used and abused. Websites that have any kind of text input will need an SSL Certificate, If you are unsure whether your website needs an SSL Certificate (Chances are it does) just ask yourself the following two questions: Does your website have forms or functions that require text to be inputted such as: Contact forms, Search Bars, Logins etc..? Is your website on HTTP://? If your answer to these questions is a resounding yes then you need to install an SSL Certificate. If you don’t implement SSL soon, your visitors will see a “Not Secure” warning on visiting your site which will damage your sites reputation irrevocably and will also cause your business to suffer. To inquire about getting an SSL Certificate for your website to stop it being marked as non-secure please get in touch today! Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon

GDPR is Here – What Now?

GDPR is Here
Category: News
May 28, 2018
Unless you were living under a rock it was hard to ignore anything and everything GDPR Compliance related last week. Whether it was the constant inflow of “privacy policy updates” to your inbox or panicking over trying to make your own website compliant by the 25th, chances are the majority of your time during the week was taken up with GDPR related issues. As you may be aware the 25th of May was the introduction of the GDPR law and it is these rules that are laid out as part of the regulation that will be enforced in the future. To protect your business from fines for non-compliance it is vital that you make sure you are meeting the standards set out by GDPR. Whilst every website is unique and will require different changes to be implemented depending on their respective industry, there are a few things that every business must make sure they have done across the board to be in line with GDPR compliance. These are such things as:

Cookie Plugin Your website must have a notification upon entering the site that alerts users that your site has cookies, the option to view and disable these cookies must be presented to the user to be GDPR compliant.

Privacy Policy You must have a privacy policy and links to your policy enabled throughout site.

Cookie Policy You must have a cookie policy and this must be linked to in the aforementioned cookie plugin notification.

Data Statements Under any forms where user’s are inputting information to you such as contact forms you must have a visible statement below it which outlines what you will be using the data received for.

Terms and Conditions in checkout If your site has an E-commerce element you must have an opt in box that user’s must tick that says “I have read and understand the terms and conditions” before they input their card details to complete a purchase. It must be mandatory for the box to be ticked to complete the purchase and a link to the terms and conditions should also be available.

These 5 are a few important elements that must be implemented in your quest towards GDPR compliance, it is not however the full exhaustive list. Depending on your website there may be many more changes which need to be made or a select few more may only required. For a full comprehensive review of your Website by 2Cubed which will outline exactly in our opinion what is required to aid your website towards GDPR compliance please feel free to get in contact with us today!