This is why real webmasters don't like using WordPress...

Let's start with the obvious in saying that, the phrase professional WordPress designer is an oxymoron. Of course, we have nothing against those who use WordPress to create websites... a personal site, a blog or portfolio, or a self designed website for their small business. We actually applaud that. The problem, however, rests not with them.

The people we're talking about are those who usually spend the bulk of their time conceiving get rich quick ploys and scams. Eventually, many of these degenerates decide to jump on the SEO train, under the false assumption that there's nothing to it. And because they can talk a good game and know how to use a CMS designed for grade school aged children, many business owners end up falling for it.

Again, I need to stress that this is in no way a shot at WordPress. It's risen to such massive popularity because of its ease of use, and functionality, and diverse layout options. It's a cool little setup, library of thousands of plugins for personal sites, organizations, small to medium companies and more. We're simply saying that if the person you've hired is talking about building you a from scratch website, and ends up doing it in a template based program, you should be concerned about every word this person has told you.

Why True Webmasters Avoid WordPress

If SEO and search engine visibility didn't matter, I can bet at least 95% of web designer in America would be using WordPress or some similar template based CMS for small business. You see, in the time it would take a truly experienced and successful webmaster to open a WordPress file, adjust all the settings, find functions, doing any outside the box customization that a prebuild plugin didn't already do, etc., they could have designed a completely original foundation for your new site. The reason webmasters design sites from scratch is because of the control, comfort and boundless flexibility it offers, not to mention you can follow several Google Guidelines that WordPress does not follow.

And regardless of how good the template site builder is; each one in their own way has limitations capable of hindering the technological creativity of highly skilled website developers. It simply does not make any sense that they would go out of their way, to spend more time working in an unfamiliar template environment, using tools and functions designed for novice and intermediates. After all, what is the point of having a pretty website that nobody can find?

The Only Real Custom Websites Are Built From Scratch

We could get into the schematics of how major search engines supposedly devalue page rank among poorly optimized template websites, or how having a plugin does not make your SEO program complete (or even effective), or even how easy it is to visually spot a website that has been whipped together simply for cosmetic purposes. The point to be made is this: The only way to ensure that your website is 100% customized for your business, is to have it built from a blank page, by an established and proven webmaster.

Did you get burned on the big promises of someone posing as a webmaster? Don't worry, all hope is not lost. Give us a call today and let us know what happened. We'll take a look at your site and let you know what issues need the most urgent attention, to ensure the visibility and rank you thought you were paying for initially.

IES is one of the leading website developers in Plymouth, MA, and has been creating completely customized websites throughout MA and the US since 2009.

Contact IES today to schedule your company's complementary website review. Mention this blog and get 10% off any project!

Security warning for Joomla & WordPress users.

SECURITY WARNING: AUTOMATED HACK ACTIVITY FOR JOOMLA & WORDPRESS

Over the last 30 - 60 days we have started to see an alarming increase in exploits targeting Joomla and WordPress php scripts.

Joomla version 1.x is in no longer maintained by Joomla, and now has several known exploits that have been automated, WordPress has similar problems.

We urge you to upgrade any Joomla / WordPress installations you may have on your hosting account as soon as possible. If you have installed a Joomla / WordPress and are not using it, we would recommend removing the installation.

Upgrading Joomla version 1.x to 2.x is not 'straight forward' Joomla have created a guide on how to do this here: http://docs.joomla.org/J2.5:Migrating_from_Joomla_1.5_to_Joomla_2.5

If you are using an old version of WordPress or Joomla and do not upgrade them, then your websites are at risk.

If you do not have Joomla or WordPress in use on your web hosting you can safety ignore this message.

IES, Inc.
781-81-MY-IES
(781-816-9437)
iesAdvisors.com

3 facts that every business blogger needs to know.

FACT: viewers are 85% more likely to purchase after watching a product video.
Auditory and aural learners prefer to hear new material. You can accommodate them by adding narrated video to your website. Further down the funnel, you may want to offer instructional webinars.

Creating these content assets doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, especially if you’re working with a savvy marketing partner. But if you’re stalled in this capacity, you can still cater to auditory audiences by using rhythmic language and patterns in your written content.

FACT: Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text.
A picture is worth a thousand blogs when it comes to customers who are predominantly visual learners. And we’re not talking about generic stock photos of random business people, either. For every two or three written pieces you create about a new product or service offering, try to develop a visual equivalent like a workflow chart or a custom illustration.

This is not to say visual learners can’t comprehend an email blast or follow text only directions on a landing page. But it helps to remember that most people are drawn to vibrant photos and colorful graphs.

FACT: Social shares can trigger Google’s algorithm for “freshness,” giving your rank a temporary lift.
There's not much to say here, other than encourage your followers to share stories from your blog that they find interesting. One share can end up netting you 1,000 views of your blog in the end; which in turn can net you one new client.