Happy World Backup Day!

by Jacquie Robertson | Mar 31, 2024 | web hosting, Website Backup, website maintenance

Happy World Backup Day!

In this digital age, where your business thrives online, the integrity and security of your website are paramount. Yet, despite advancements in technology, websites remain vulnerable to various threats ranging from cyberattacks to technical failures. Safeguarding your website through regular backups is not just advisable – it’s essential.

Why Backing Up Your Website Matters

1. Protection Against Cyber Threats:
Cyberattacks, such as malware injections, ransomware, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, pose significant risks to websites. A robust backup strategy ensures that even if your website falls victim to such attacks, you can quickly restore it to a previous, uncorrupted state.

2. Minimise Downtime:
Website downtime can result from server crashes, software updates gone wrong, or human error. By maintaining up-to-date backups, you can swiftly recover your website, minimising downtime and preventing potential revenue loss.

3. Content Integrity:
Your website’s content represents your brand and communicates your message to the world. Regular backups ensure that your valuable content, including blog posts, product listings, and multimedia files, remains intact in the event of accidental deletion or corruption.

Implementing a Backup Strategy

1. Choose the Right Backup Solution:
Select a backup solution that aligns with your website’s platform (e.g., WordPress, Joomla, Shopify) and hosting environment. Options range from manual backups performed through your hosting provider’s control panel to automated solutions offered by third-party services.

2. Establish a Backup Schedule:
Define a regular backup schedule based on the frequency of updates to your website’s content and the criticality of your data. Daily or weekly backups are common for dynamic websites with frequent content changes, while static websites may suffice with less frequent backups.

3. Store Backups Offsite:
Storing backups offsite, preferably in a secure cloud storage service or on a separate server, mitigates the risk of data loss due to server failures or physical disasters. Ensure that your chosen storage solution provides adequate security measures, such as encryption and access controls.

4. Test Backup and Recovery Procedures:
Periodically test your backup and recovery procedures to verify their effectiveness. Simulate scenarios such as restoring a backup to a new server or recovering specific files to ensure that you can confidently recover your website in case of emergencies.

Backing up your website is not a luxury but a necessity in today’s digital landscape. By prioritising website backups, you protect your online presence, maintain business continuity, and uphold the trust of your audience. Remember, investing time and resources in a comprehensive backup strategy today can save you from costly disruptions tomorrow. Stay proactive, stay secure, and safeguard your digital assets with regular website backups.

All our own hosted websites are backed up each month to our remote Cloud Storage System as part of our Maintenance Plan.If you’re unsure as to whether you have a Backup Plan contact your Web Hosting Company or Web Designer.

Post Launch Care Plans

by Jacquie Robertson | May 6, 2022 | web design, website maintenance

One of the biggest questions I’m asked when creating websites is what is ongoing post launch After Care?

Find out by reading my report below…

Hosting & Plugins

All websites must be hosted somewhere, they can’t just float around the ethernet aimlessly. Think of a server as a vessel which holds your website and keeps it safe. This container protects your website from intruders and keeps your website fully operational.

All Fiit Marketing websites consist of the following essentials which I install before I even start to build your site:

Divi Licence (more about that later)
WordFence (to protect it from hacking)
Yoast (for basic SEO functionality.
SSL Licence (keeps your internet connection secure. It’s the padlock at the top lhs of any website)

There are a few other plugins which are added to make your website not only look nice, but helps with the functionality and operation of your site.

Then there are the E-Commerce and Membership Plugins (WooCommerce / WP Simple Membership) for the websites which have shops and online memberships, and if you want to work on your Google stats I recommend installing Google Site Kit.

All of the plugins and the Divi theme require regular updates. The software developers who make the plugins are constantly updating the software, quite often on a weekly basis. These updates aren’t automatically carried out on your website as it requires your web developer (me) to go in and carry out the updates.

If plugin and theme updates aren’t carried out on your website then things can slow down and the site starts to develop problems such as pages not loading, menus not displaying, images disappearing…

Divi Theme

All Fiit Marketing websites are built using the Divi Theme Builder. As a designer it gives me the scope and technical functionality to be able to create not only highly visual websites, but which perform well on the world wide web. I had previously worked with a few other themes (Themify / WP Bakery) for a few years before making the switch to Divi and I’ve never looked back. Your website has its own individual API code under my global licence.

So as you can see, there is a lot going on with a website, which is why it needs after care.

Do I need to stay with Fiit Marketing post site launch?

If you are confident with managing your website there is absolutely no problem to move your website to a server company of your choosing after your site is completed and fully paid up. There are many companies out there and I can help you to make the transition.

You would need to purchase your own Divi Licence as you would no longer be entitled to the API key under my licence (c.£75+VAT per annum).

Sample Hosting Companies* and associated costs (excluding VAT):

WP Engine £19/mth
Siteground £11.99
Cloudways £10
Bluehost £7.50 (3 year term)

*above costs are for website which has no E-Commerce / Membership

What are the Fiit Marketing After Care Plans?

Plan A £15/mth

Continued hosting on our shared server
Premium Divi Theme Licence
Secure off site backups
Plugin Updates
Continued SSL Licence
Security and Malware Scans

Plan A+ £25/mth

Everything included in Plan A PLUS…
Annual Domain Name Renewal (if your domain name was purchased on your behalf by Fiit Marketing)
Up to 30 mins FREE design/alts each month (value £30)
NB: Doesn’t carry over to the next month if not used!
Free access to the new FIIT MARKETING ACADEMY FACEBOOK GROUP (value £4.95/mth)
25% discount from Masterclasses.

Plus with a Fiit Marketing After Care Plan you have me on hand for any emergencies and not a stranger in a chat box.

Full information can be found on the website.

Web Maintenance

Wix or WordPress?…

by Jacquie Robertson | Apr 19, 2021 | domain name, web design, web hosting, website maintenance

WordPress or Wix? What’s the difference?…

If you are a complete beginner, don’t want to hire a Web Designer and want a quick and easy way to get your website up and running then Wix is the perfect solution for you.

Although Wix offers a basic website builder service for free it does have some drawbacks…

- Wix branded advertisements on the header and footer of your website
- You can’t use a Custom Domain name for your website so it will appear as
- username.wix.com/sitename
- There is no SEO or E-Commerce functionality

If you want to remove the advertisements and get additional features you’ll need to upgrade to one of the Wix Premium Plans.

WordPress

A WordPress website will give you complete control of every aspect of your website.

You have the flexibility to build an E-Commerce Store, run a Blog or start a Membership Site, plus you have access to over 58,000 Plugins.

Apps and Plugins

Wix calls them Apps and WordPress calls them Plugins. Some are free and some require a monthly subscription payment.

What are they?

These are lovely addons which you can bolt onto your website. They’re an essential part of building and creating an amazing website.

There are Apps / Plugins to boost your sites speed and performance, improve SEO, add contact forms, sell online courses. Some are free and some require additional monthly or annual subscription payment.

Your Fiit Marketing Website comes with additional features such as animated text, flip picture boxes, image hover boxes, and links to your Social Media.

Domain Name and Hosting

With a WordPress website you’ll need your own Domain Name and Hosting Service. At Fiit Marketing we can help you to find and purchase your own Domain Name. All our websites are hosted on our Shared Server account with Bluehost. If you want to add an E-Commerce functionality WooCommerce can easily be bolted on which gives you the ability to start selling products directly from your website. With a WordPress website you can backup your website, download your media files. You can even move your website to a new hosting company and designer. Wix makes it a little harder to move your website and files to a new hosting company so if you want a WordPress site it’s sometimes easier to walk away from Wix and start afresh.

Blogging

If you’re looking at writing a Blog, WordPress wins hands down. It started as a blogging platform and now is used on 40% of all websites.

Themes

This is the most important part of your website – how the design and layout look and work.

Your website must be user friendly, easy to navigate and especially needs to be functional across all platforms – mobile, laptop, tablet.

Wix comes with over 900+ website themes. However the drawback is that once you have selected your theme you can’t switch to another template. You can change the colours and layouts but not the overall look of your website.

Imagine wearing the same clothes day in and day out and not being able to change them?

A WordPress site allows you to easily change the look and feel of your website whenever you feel like having a refresh.

As your business grows and develops your website needs to reflect this and grow with you.

Cost

Over time Wix is the more expensive option.

At Fiit Marketing we have created transparent website costs, monthly payment plans and ongoing hosting options once your website is completed. You can come back to us to add more features to your site whenever you’re ready and we are always here to help.

Summary

We can get your new WordPress or Wix website up and running in no time at all.

If you have a Wix website, we can help you to update your site – but not give you a new theme – and we can add on additional Apps for you.

(Ref: https://www.wpbeginner.com/opinion/wix-vs-wordpress-which-one-is-better-pros-and-cons/)

What is Website Maintenance and do I need it?

by Jacquie Robertson | Mar 21, 2021 | website maintenance

So, your brand new website is up and running and looking amazing! But what happens next?…

It’s just like buying a car…

You pick it up from the garage and you’re proud as punch driving around in your shiny new car.

However… it still needs looked after, it needs fuel, it needs cleaned, it needs serviced, it needs insured and it needs regular MOT’s.

It’s the same with websites! They need to be looked after and serviced.

Websites can break – FACT!

They can get hacked, they need software updates, they need to be backed up, they need refreshed, they need to be relevant and top of the list they need to be secure!

How many times have you gone to a website only to be met with a message saying “website not loading” or “website not available” – do you really want that to happen to you?!

You want to ensure that your clients can access your company information safely, securely and to not be met with dangerous messages or even worse pornographic images.

Shhh….There is a third option, but it offers NO support, NO break and fix and NO backup – do you seriously want to take that risk?