Tag Archives: Web Development Dublin

Website Security | Give Your Site A Health Check

Website Security
Category: Tips and Tricks
June 28, 2018
Everyday Websites are compromised, the majority of these security breaches are usually an attempt to use your server for things such as an email relay for spam emails, or to setup a temporary web server which would be used to serve files of an illegal nature. However depending on your website sometimes these breaches can be of an even more serious and dark nature such as hackers attempting to steal your data and/or to actually deface your entire website. There will always be hackers unfortunately, that fact is out of your website’s control, what you can control however is your website’s security. Think of website security as the health of your site, when your website security is strong your site is in good health, when your website has poor or no security your site is in bad health, and just like human’s, when you are feeling weak, it’s harder to protect yourself from dangers. Hackers thrive on sites who are in weak health and vulnerable. So how do I make sure my website is in good health? Well just like visiting the doctor for a check up your should get into the habit of regularly giving your site a health check to see how it’s performing. Two ways in particular of increasing your website security and keeping it in good health are switching to HTTPS and having a Website Security Seal. A great way to protect your site is to make sure you switch to HTTPS hosting, to do this you will have to acquire an SSL certificate. Normally websites are hosted on just HTTP, this is a problem because HTTP is not secure and so hackers can ‘listen’ in on any data that is being passed between your site and a visitors browser. This data could be of a severely sensitive nature such as card details or login credentials such as username, passwords etc.. HTTPS however is stronger over HTTP as it is secure and has an encrypted connection between your website and a user’s browser. This encrypted connection makes it so that any data that may be passed can not be intercepted or “listened” on by hackers. Another reason why your site needs to have HTTPS is that it’s not only just good for security but google have actually made it clear that HTTPS is a ranking factor in their algorithm. Google favours websites who use HTTPS over HTTP. Switching to HTTPS is simply the logical move, not only does it give your site more security, but it will also improve your rankings on the SERP as google favours sites who use it. To get your site to switch to HTTPS you will need to have an SSL Certificate. To inquire about getting an SSL certificate for your site get in touch with us today! As well as switching to HTTPS another way of drastically improving your website security is by having a Website Security Seal. A Website Security Seal is a security feature that monitors your website and it looks for things such as malware in particular. Malware is viruses which have been uploaded by hackers. Think of a website security seal as being like anti-virus for your website. As a user you wouldn’t surf the web without having an anti-virus installed so why would you want to expose your website to potential threats.The seal constantly works in the background and monitors your files and if it comes across malware it will notify you so that you can remove it and keep your site safe. Having your hosting, website security and maintenance looked after by a professional company is simply the smart decision, it will not only give you peace and mind that your site is being looked after by experts but you will also now be able to focus your time on your business and your customers. Also by having a maintenance agreement in place you won’t have to continually pay each and every time you need an update done, you can rest easy in the knowledge that it will be automatically covered by your agreement, it will save you money in the long run compared to having to go it by yourself. Once you think you have done all you can in relation to improving your security then it’s time to actually test your website security and give your site a health check.The most effective way of doing this is via the use of some website security tools, often referred to as penetration testing or pen testing for short. For more information about increasing your website security and making sure it’s in good health contact us today! Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon

The Importance of Google AMP

Category: Tips and Tricks
June 22, 2018
AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages, it is a Google-backed project designed for any publisher to have pages load quickly on mobile devices. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is designed to enable publishers to easily improve speed and by extension the user experience for their mobile users. Pages who make use of AMP coding actually appear within special places in the search results and with a special “AMP” designation. Before AMP was introduced similar results were possible to achieve but it could only be done by experienced developers through quite specialized performance optimizations and it required a lot of time and was often simply not done as people found it too arduous and/or lack of resources played a factor. The great thing about AMP is that it allows businesses to now do these optimizations quite easily by themselves in quite a quick time. By optimizing your site with AMP you are being proactive and putting yourself in a great position because chances are it’s going to become more and more popular in the future and google themselves are encouraging the use of AMP and are likely to favour pages with AMP when it comes to the search engine listings. When using AMP there are some important considerations to make such as you will have to maintain at least two versions of any article page or post. One version will be the original version of your page or post that users will typically see, and then their will also be the AMP version of that page. Also AMP doesn’t allow things such as form elements so you most likely won’t be able to have elements such as lead forms, on-page comments and other more common elements you may be used to incorporating on your standard page when optimizing them. However despite this, one thing that can’t be denied about AMP is that it truly does provide quite an easy, fast and efficient way of improving your site speed on mobile devices and considering we live in a mobile first indexing world that is more important now than ever. For more advice and information on having a successful website get in touch with 2Cubed today! Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon

Mobile First Web Design

Mobile First Web Design
Category: Tips and Tricks
June 20, 2018
Mobile first web design is exactly what it sounds like, it is the practice of designing first and foremost for the smallest screen compatibility possible and then working your way up from mobile to desktop etc.. The idea behind this practice is that by taking this approach you have designed your website to be a responsive and very adaptive design. This is because you would have taken the approach that is called ‘progressive enhancement’. Progressive enhancement is the strategy that since mobile design is generally the most difficult to do that you should actually do it first and then when you have to design for other devices you will find it a much easier process. The great thing about this approach is that since you have made mobile first web design a priority and since smaller designs will have only essential features you have at the core already the heart of the user experience you’re offering. The opposite approach of progressive enhancement is called ‘graceful degradation’. This would be considered a more old-fashioned practice. Graceful degradation entails building a website that incorporates everything from the start and then starts to strip away parts at a later stage for compatibility on smaller devices. The bad thing about graceful degradation is that it treats mobile compatibility as an afterthought or almost a nuisance and you are cutting down on the quality for the mobile version so you nearly end up with two different websites. The one on desktop is a proper effective one whereas the mobile version ends up looking like a pale shadow of the former. Google now actually indexes sites on a mobile first approach which means they are first ranking your site on how responsive and how well designed it is for mobile, so you can understand if you took the graceful degradation approach you have already shot yourself in the foot as your website will not rank as well as google will judge it poorly even though your desktop site might very well be perfect. We of course then like everyone else recommend that you always take the progressive enhancement mobile-first approach and make mobile a priority not an afterthought otherwise you will live to regret it. When your site looks great on a mobile device, it will translate brilliantly to all other devices. Also when you design for mobile first it’s limitations are forcing you to cut to the heart of things and really prioritize your content. This is unintentionally helping you to make your website better and deliver the ultimate user experience as since you are designing under such tight parameters your site will be very content-focused which in turn means its user-focused. Google will look on you very favorably if you’re offering the user a great experience and you are because you have been forced to cut to the heart of things, and that’s what the user wants, not to be distracted with all the bells and whistles but access straight away to the content they were searching for! What first seemed like a hindrance is actually an unlikely but extremely helpful ally, design your website with a mobile first approach and you have taken the first step to having a successful website, on all devices! For more advice and information on having a successful website get in touch with 2Cubed today! Please feel free to follow and interact with us on the following profiles. facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon Instagram icon Google+ icon

Our Design – Your Vision.

Website design Ireland
Category: Projects
June 6, 2018
At 2Cubed we specialize in delivering functional websites that exceed clients’ expectations and performance. We strive to use the very best industry practices provided by our in house web designers. We believe that it’s ‘Your Web Strategy’ and we are here to deliver and guide you to achieving the very best website possible. Our creative web designers are always ready to design, code & market your project. Whether you wish to improve or replace an existing site, or create one from scratch that will be everything you ever dreamed of, 2Cubed are here to make it a reality. For further details and to ask any questions or queries you may have you can reach us through our contact page and we would be delighted to speak with you!

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!

Move your MODX site to WordPress

MODX site to Wordpress
Category: Tips and Tricks
May 9, 2018
MODX (originally MODx) is a free, open source content management system and web application framework for publishing content on the world wide web and intranets. MODX is licensed under the GPL, is written in the PHP programming language, and supports MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server as the database. Many people choose to move their site from MODX to WordPress because they come to realize that with MODX CMS that it can be very difficult to make the simplest of changes. By converting their site over to wordpress users find it much easier for common functions such as updating and customizing. When a client wishes to keep the look and feel of their current site when moving across to wordpress we start by first doing the content migration and then follow it up with the theme migration. If there is a lot of functionality already built in the original site we can distribute it over to various types of wordpress plugins. The site will then be converted for cross device compatibility and when that’s completed be moved over to responsive framework. WordPress conversion from MODX is an approach that tends to make sense as best practice for most businesses. However there is one caveat to this point that should be considered, you shouldn’t rush into converting from MODX to WordPress without first properly evaluating everything first. It’s vitally important that you consider first your existing assets such as (such as SEO, Content, Functionality) are not compromised in the transfer. Finally the most important point when it comes to converting a MODX site to WordPress is to make sure you have an expert doing it! This isn’t something that is recommended to be a DIY job unless you are very confident of your abilities because there are a lot of things that can go wrong and issues that pop up during a migration, this is where it will pay to have someone who has a cool head and knows what they are doing to make sure your site converts to the otherside intact and unscathed. There are many so called ‘experts’ and ‘wordpress gurus’ out there who just copy/paste the existing MODX site into wordpress without first centralizing the control to the wordpress dashboard, this practices goes completely against the whole purpose of migrating over to wordpress! Many people also rely on automated software to cover everything related in the A-to-Z migration of a MODX site to wordpress. While automated software and scripts are very helpful in the migration process they aren’t always enough to complete the job by themselves. An experienced wordpress migration expert will know how to utilize the perfect combination of both automation and traditional hand coding to garner the best results. To get in touch with 2Cubed about migrating your site or just to inquire with queries you may have be sure to get in touch and contact us today!

Website Maintenance Ireland

website maintenance ireland
April 26, 2018
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. Whatever the size or scale of 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. 2Cubed pride ourselves on the fact that “All of Our Web Designs Are Created Specifically For Each Customer in Mind”.  We are a team of web design professionals that are dedicated to giving the best web design service in Ireland.  In 2016 we were finalists as IIA Net Visionary Web Design Company of the Year. 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. This site was created because we believe that you shouldn’t have to be worrying about the maintenance of your company website, we can give you the peace of mind that it is being looked after which will enable you to focus on your business completely. Our Website Maintenance site offers many Website Maintenance Options including our own individual packages such as “Website Maintenance”, “Fix Website Hack” and “Website Maintenance Ecommerce” which you can choose from to ensure your website runs smoothly. We also offer what we call Website Bolt-ons which will help your business to get the most from your online presence with our simple add-ons such as “Set up SSL Cert”, “Google Business Email” and “Transfer Email to Google Business Email”. Our Website Essentials packages “Content Writing”, “Website Hosting” and “SEO & Digital Marketing” will help you to get found on google and reach more customers. To view these packages and more in detail visit our new sister site by clicking here! 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. For help with your website maintenance and website management needs, contact 2Cubed today!

2Cubed Dublin’s Office Moves Location

Website Design Dublin
Category: News
April 23, 2018
2Cubed were delighted to replace our old office in Dublin by moving into a new location in the nation’s capital. Our Wexford office moved from Enniscorthy to brand new quarters in New Ross in the recent years so we are delighted for our Dublin location to get the same treatment. Our new location in Dublin is: 2CUBED – WEBSITE DESIGN DUBLIN ANGLESEA HOUSE 63 CARYSFORT AVENUE  BLACKROCK, CO. DUBLIN 2Cubed have been proud and look forward to continuing to provide award-winning web design and mobile app development services to the Dublin area. We have designed and developed many successful websites for Dublin-based businesses, from both Dublin City and County Dublin. These include Bombay Pantry & Lucan  Fabrics, not to mention our work with renowned fashion blogger Suzanne Jackson.  2Cubed has over 15 years’ experience in web design, and calls upon this experience when developing bespoke websites for your company, helping you expand your business online and maximise both sales and productivity. We also provide App Development, Responsive Design, eCommerce Development and Design in Dublin. We use a number of eCommerce platforms like Magento, Shopify, WordPress and Woo Commerce to run these successful sites. In addition to these services, we can also create unique content for your business – helping develop your company’s image as an industry authority in the eyes of customers and search engines alike, helping you rank higher in Google and thus increase your online exposure. To view our full portfolio of work please click here. Please feel free to contact us on 01 905 8114 or 051-440425, email hello@2cubed.ie