The advantages of setting up an e-commerce website

Easy to use

Nowadays, ease of use is playing an increasingly important role among consumers. Of course, it is much easier to order products from behind your computer than visiting different shops to find the right product. With the internet, it is possible to order products without leaving the house and the internet has a huge assortment. Because of the large number of webshops on offer, the chance of success for consumers is many times greater. If, in addition to a webshop for desktop, a website for mobile or tablet is also created, the convenience for the customer is increased even further. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the traffic that is drawn to the site.

E-commerce in Europe: 60% buys online

Online shopping had already become more popular throughout the European Union over the years. Partly due to increased use of the Internet and improved security standards. But driven by the measures taken to contain the coronavirus, eCommerce has recently taken quite a breakthrough. Eurostat does not yet show these figures, so we have to do with the 2019 stats. It shows that six out of ten people in the European Union, aged between 16 and 74, shopped online last year. By way of comparison: a year earlier, that percentage was 4 percentage points lower, at 56 percent. And compared to ten years ago, the share has even almost doubled, from 32 per cent in 2009.

Opportunity for unknown brands

Where the big brands are mainly about brand awareness, this is not the case with e-commerce. It is much more important to attract visitors to the website than to generate brand awareness. In addition, many large webshops now also offer a partner program. As a small supplier of, for example, clothing or electronics products, you can pre-purchase on the site of the large webshop. In Holland,  leading webshop such as Bol.com and internationally Zalando.nl and Amazon already work according to this principle to expand the range of products. Also Google Shopping can play a huge part in the success of your online business. In April 2020, Google changed its policy, allowing all online stores to advertise on the platform for free.

Google is making a significant change to its Google Shopping platform by letting any business owner that sells products online list their inventory for free. Usually, an e-commerce operation would need to pay for ad placement on Google Shopping. But the company says it will now let anyone who operates a website or manages a store on a marketplace platform list without paying. Google still plans to charge companies for top placement as promoted listings.

For more information, please visit the Google Merchant Center website.

In addition, literally and figuratively a world opens up once a webshop has been set up. Where a physical store has a relatively small reach, in a webshop the world is at your feet. Worldwide, almost everyone is a potential consumer.

Your 24/7 sales office

Because there are no opening hours, you can sell your products 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Customers sell your products

By using a webshop and allowing reviews on the website, many more potential consumers are reached than when only using a physical store. In physical stores, positive feedback will only reach people who are close to the consumer, such as family and friends. Reviews on the internet, on the other hand, reach almost all consumers who click on the product in question. These people are often interested in the product, but also how others think about the product. However, this can also have negative consequences. The same applies to negative feedback.

Low costs

Setting up an online store can be done for a fraction of the costs if compared to a physical store. There is no rent to be paid, there is less staff and the physical stock needed is smaller. The fact that marketing costs are lower can also save a lot of money. By setting up the webshop in the right way, consumer confidence is also gained. When the website looks good, the customer is more inclined to buy products and the owner of the webshop can respond much better to the wishes of the customer. It is possible to look at the number of clicks per product, the number of purchases per product or the turnover per product. This allows a webshop owner to adapt his assortment to the wishes of the customer faster. By using Search Engine Optimization, the traffic to the website can be further increased.

Security and Data of the consumer

However, it is important to protect the data of the consumer. Consumers are forced to provide a delivery address, personal information and payment details when purchasing a product. It is therefore important that this personal information is properly protected.

Starting your E-commerce website the smart way

In order to run a webshop successfully, you have to take into account many things, such as marketing, logistics and the ability to pay online. But first, you need to select your CMS (Content Management System) and E-commerce platform.

To learn more about this aspect, please read the following content thoroughly:

• What website software? Choose the best website software!
• Web Shop and Ecommerce Design
• Content: The first step to a successful website
• 9 Ways to boost your webshop
• Content Marketing Strategy: The Start to Finish guide

Ecommerce: Online Marketing is the cornerstone for your online store

In order to sell online, you need website traffic. The RIGHT website traffic that is. In order to open the gates and provide a solid stream of visitors, you need to get started with marketing. Basically, this means you need to get out of the obscurity. Sales-mogul Grant Cardone puts it brilliantly in the following video. Long story short: People do not know you! And you need to make sure they do. You need to make sure people are convinced about your product. Time to step out of the shadow and to start with online marketing.

Content marketing

Content marketing is an important part of your overall marketing strategy. A slogan like this used to be very effective. Maybe you remember it: “We from WC duck, recommend WC duck”. Nowadays this no longer works and you have to do your best to build trust with your target group. Visitors and potential customers want more, they want proof that they have really come to the right place. Content marketing helps with this.

By placing and distributing content, you create value for visitors. They are looking for certain information and you give it to them. If you do this right, you not only create engagement with your visitors, but you will soon be seen as an expert in your field. Moreover, content marketing strengthens the position of your webshop in search engines.

Of course, there are many forms of content. Below are a number of forms you can use for your webshop.

Get started with content marketing today with our FREE WINNING content strategy of 2020. Click here: The winning SEO Content Strategy of 2020

Blogs and articles

Blogging is an excellent method to share your knowledge, to inform your target group about news and to bring your web shop to the attention of your customers. Every webshop should have a blog. Share not only news about your webshop, but also background information about products, new collections and useful tips.

Videos

Not everyone likes to read (long) articles and blogs. Therefore use video as a marketing tool. For example, make videos with product reviews, show how products can be used and answer questions in videos.

Reviews

Telling yourself that you are the best no longer works (see also the video of WC duck above). Visitors are more likely to assume from your current customers that your products are good. Give customers the opportunity to share their experiences and post these reviews on your website.

Infographics

An infographic is a nice variation on your content. An infographic is an illustration that displays information in an orderly manner. It is often a combination of text and image. You can use it, for example, to explain the production process.

E-books

E-books are ideal tools to share your knowledge and expertise. Write an e-book about a subject that your target group is interested in and that matches the products you sell. You can also use this to collect more subscriptions to your newsletter.

Email marketing, indispensable in your marketing strategy

It is often thought that e-mail marketing, sending newsletters and mailings to your target group, is outdated. But nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, it is true that consumers receive an awful lot of e-mails and newsletters these days, but that does not mean that it is better not to send them.

E-mail marketing is a great way to reach your target group and customers and keep them informed about new products, promotions and other news. Moreover, if you send a regular newsletter, the reader is constantly reminded of your webshop. The moment the consumer needs something, you are top of mind.

Collecting email addresses

By placing a registration form on your website and giving visitors a reason to register, you can collect e-mail addresses, even from people who are not customers at that time. By subscribing to your newsletter they can indicate that they are interested in your products. Then use the newsletter to introduce these potential customers to your webshop and gain their trust, so that they can still make a purchase.

Offer value in your newsletter

Do not turn your newsletter into a digital advertising brochure. Take a different approach than your competitors, so that you stand out in those overflowing mailboxes. Provide tips, background information and sneak previews in your newsletter. Make something valuable out of it, that works much better than simply saying ‘these are the new products and these are this week’s offers’. Of course, you have to mention them as well, but always offer a little added value, so people will keep opening your newsletters and even look forward to them in the long run.

Social media for your webshop

The proper use of social media for your webshop can bring you enormous brand awareness, online visibility, fans and customers. But don’t underestimate it. Setting up and implementing a good social media strategy takes time and perseverance.

You don’t have to be present everywhere. Choose the channels where your target group is present and post messages that suit both the channel and your target group. On Instagram and Pinterest, for example, it’s all about the photos and you can use Facebook to share links to blogs you’ve written.

Search engine marketing

Worldwide, Google processes nearly 4 million searches per minute. Many online shoppers start their search for a particular product or for inspiration in a search engine. If you make sure that your shop scores well in search engines, that’s a great way to attract more free visitors to your shop.

There are several things that are important when you optimize your website for search engines. One of those things, which I’ve had a lot of success with last year, is adding a knowledge base to the website. Here you can share a lot of basic information. Information that is interesting for new visitors, but that doesn’t really belong on your blog. In addition, blogging ensures a better position in the search results, especially if you include relevant search terms in your articles.

Discover more about our Search Engine Marketing Sevice: Ranking within 90 days! – FML SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Google Ads

If you are not yet found well in the search engine on certain search terms, you can place advertisements in the Google advertising program: Google Ads. By advertising in Google or other search engines (SEA – Search Engine Advertising) you can attract many extra visitors to your webshop.

In the search results of Google, for example, standard places are reserved for the advertisements. In the image below you can see that the first four search results contain the abbreviation ‘Adv.’, which indicates that these are advertisements. On the right side of the screen you will also see the Google Shopping results. These are also advertisements.

Logistics

Logistics is one of the most important parts when it comes to optimising your business, especially if it’s an online shop. Sometimes we assume that everything goes well, but if you take a closer look at the figures and possibilities, you will see that you can probably perform even better. So always look for new opportunities to optimise. We explain here how you can do this best for your logistics.

Payment

As you can read, a webshop offers numerous advantages. Besides the lower costs, there is a larger market that can be tapped into, products can be sold 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and positive feedback reaches more consumers. The use of e-commerce is therefore highly recommended for companies, so increase the chances and put on that webshop!

But in order to be successful, you must ensure flexible payment options!

The post Start selling online: The advantages of e-commerce websites appeared first on FML Marketing.

Good WordPress hosting ensures a fast website. And a fast website is important for both your visitors and Google. First of all, visitors drop out if it takes too long to load your website. And Google rewards fast websites. They get higher in the search results. And website hosting is one of the most important factors of a fast website. It is the ground you start building from.

In addition, you can and must do everything yourself to make your website faster. But it all starts with a host that makes it possible to have a fast website. Otherwise, you can optimize all you like, but it will never harvest the desired result.

The other way around is also true. You can have a good WordPress website provider, but if you don’t do anything to optimize your WordPress website it won’t help you. But more about that another time. First, a number of criteria to choose a good WordPress website provider in Spain or any other European country for that matter.

What should you pay attention to when choosing good WordPress hosting?

In recent years I have moved my websites several times to other WordPress hosting in the Netherlands and abroad. This is because I was always dissatisfied with a certain aspect. One time it was slow websites, the other time it was bad support. As a result, I now know what to look out for when choosing good WordPress hosting in the Netherlands. This has led to the following criteria.

Speed

Speed is the most important criterion for me. But how do you find out if a WordPress hosting provider is fast?

To start with, you can read reviews. There are all kinds of comparison sites. And if you already have WordPress hosting in mind, you can specifically search for reviews or experiences for this WordPress hosting provider. You will then be able to read quickly enough whether it is a good choice.

Price can also say something about speed. In general, the cheaper a WordPress hosting provider, the more websites on the server, and the slower your website will be. So my advice is to stay away from discounters in the field of WordPress hosting in Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, etc.. Don’t choose the cheapest one, but pay a bit more.

It is also important where the server is located. If your target group is in the Netherlands, choose a server in the Netherlands. However, if you mainly have visitors from America, choose a server in America. This does not necessarily mean that you have to choose a Dutch WordPress hosting provider. There are also foreign WordPress hosting providers with servers in the Netherlands.

Some WordPress hosting providers have extra caching functionality. This can make your website considerably faster. Furthermore, your site will get considerably faster from SSD website hosting. So choose a hosting provider that supports this. For some time now, some hosting providers support HTTP/2. A successor to the HTTP protocol that makes your site considerably faster because files are loaded at the same time instead of one after the other… So choose a hosting provider that supports HTTP/2.

Also good: if the hosting provider has taken measures to ensure that other websites on the server cannot slow down your website.

Attention to security

WordPress sites are regularly attacked by hackers. That is why it is good to choose a website hosting provider that pays attention to the security of your website.

For example, by:

• offering the possibility to update your WordPress and plugins automatically.
• quickly close security holes on the server
• apply technology that prevents a hacked website from infecting other websites on the same server
• Here too, the following applies: Siteground has and does all of the above.

Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificates

An SSL certificate is nowadays a must (see also my other blog about this). Browsers say your site is not safe if you don’t have one. And search engines like Google give priority to secure websites. This means websites using an SSL certificate. Well, until now that was sometimes complicated to arrange. And SSL certificates cost money. Nevertheless, now you have the open-source project Let’s Encrypt. This allows you to apply for a free SSL certificate. And you don’t need your own unique IP address anymore.

Support

I think good support is very important. I always look at how to get in touch first. Is that only by e-mail? Maybe there is a support forum where you can see how well they answer questions.

Also important: how fast is the response. Is it within 15 minutes or can it take a few days? And what about support in the evenings or on weekends?

An example of how you don’t want it: I recently had to transfer a website for a customer and wanted to create an extra database for that purpose. It already started with the fact that I couldn’t do it myself (silly!). That had to be done by support. Unfortunately, they hadn’t done that. We found out on Friday after 5 pm and then had to wait until Monday morning before we could continue.

I need support at the most impossible hours because I run into something. That’s why I always choose a large WordPress hosting provider with support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A large WordPress hosting provider can offer this because they have a support team all over the world. So there is always someone awake and working. I haven’t found a Dutch WordPress hosting provider that can offer this.

A special form of support is the transfer service. Some WordPress hosting providers offer to transfer your website for free if you switch to them. This can save you a lot of time and frustration.

The numbers

The numbers or features are also important. The megabytes and gigabytes:

• How much web space do you get to set up your website? I like to have at least one gigabyte. In my case, this space is not only for my website but also for my e-mail. I use the so-called IMAP protocol. This means that all e-mail stays on the server. And when you receive an e-mail with a large attachment, you are suddenly at your limit.
• How many e-mail addresses can you have? Useful if you want to link multiple e-mail addresses to your domain. For example, for freelancers or employees who help you. Or to separate support from regular mail.
• How many databases can you use? Additional databases are useful for test sites, for example.
• How much traffic is your website allowed to have? You may not be so quick to reach this limit, but it’s good to know.
• How many websites can you put on one package? If you only have one website, that’s not important, but if you have more, you might be able to save money. And who knows what the future holds.

Extra functionality

Also look at extra functionality such as:

• Does the website hosting provider have a WordPress installer? This will allow you to install WordPress with just a few clicks.
• Are automatic backups made? How often? How far back in time can I go? Can I access it myself or do I need support for this?
• Can I access the log files myself (raw access logs)? These are files in which you can see exactly what is happening on your website. Very useful if your website is slow or has been hacked.
• Can I set “Cron jobs” myself? Cron jobs are tasks that are performed automatically at a fixed interval. A normal user will not need them. But I am not a normal user …
• Can I test my website with “staging”? With staging, you can make a copy of your website with one click of a button. With this copy you can, for example, test new plugins or make other changes. If you are satisfied with the result, you

Price – Cheap WordPress Hosting Providers: A NO GO!

I advise you not to go for the cheapest for a business website. Cheap WordPress hosting providers:

• put a lot of websites on one server, which results in a slow website.
• are often difficult to reach for support questions
• often respond slowly to support questions

For a private website that’s not so bad. But for a business website, you don’t want all that. In any case, I would like to pay a few extra tens for quality and SERVICE!

Therefore, I can not stress enough to search for a very good price/quality ratio.

A fast website

At FML Marketing, we pay a lot of attention to the speed of your site, such as:

• Fast NGINX servers in Amsterdam, London and two other continents which is important if you mainly have visitors from Europe, and the rest of the world.
• All shared website hosting servers have SSD disks, which makes your website considerably faster (nowadays many providers have this, but Siteground already offered this in 2015, indicating that they are at the forefront with new technologies).
• HTTP/2 on all shared and cloud servers, which means that the different files of your website are loaded at the same time instead of one after the other, which also results in a faster website (they have had this since 2015 when it wasn’t standard yet).
• A self-developed SG Optimizer plug-in to accelerate WordPress websites. With its caching capabilities and front-end and image optimization features, it optimizes the performance of WordPress sites so much that, according to Siteground, you can see speed benefits between 20% and 500%.
• Free Cloudflare CDN integration allowing some files to be loaded from the fast Cloudflare servers and making your site faster.
• The latest PHP version for even faster websites.

FML Marketing – Hosting Experts Marbella

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Times are changing

Before 2005, most websites were created manually. By this, we mean that the source code is written by hand. A web designer has to know various programming languages such as HTML, CSS, javascript, and PHP, for example, in order to be able to deliver a professional website that meets the client’s requirements. Nowadays there are many more website software possibilities for creating a website. Even without knowledge of programming languages and source codes, you can have a professional website made. There are various software packages that write this programming language for you, as it were.

3 possibilities in terms of website software

Roughly speaking, the possibilities for creating a new website can be reduced to 3 main categories:

• Manually coded websites
• SaaS solutions
• CMS systems

This enumeration is somewhat simplified. There are solutions that fall between the above categories, so-called niche products. Because these niche products do not necessarily add anything to this article and we would like to keep it clear, these have been left out here.

1. Manually encoded website

Manually coded websites are tailored to the exact needs of the client. They can be as simple or as complex as you like. Design and functionalities can be put together completely according to your wishes. You really start with a white sheet and everything is built completely ‘from the ground up’. Commonly used software for creating manually coded websites is Adobe Dreamweaver, Google Web Designer, WebStorm, KompoZer and for example Coda.

Advantages of this website software

Because it is completely custom made, a manually coded website can fully meet your requirements. It has been developed specifically according to your wishes and situation. Another advantage of a ‘hand-coded’ website is that it is almost always safer than a CMS system, provided it is well developed of course. By ‘good’ we mean according to industry standards with an extra layer of security if necessary. Hacking a ‘standard’ CMS system is generally more attractive than hacking handmade software because with the popular software a hacker can abuse many websites at the same time.

Disadvantages of this website software

A handmade solution will cost you more time and money, as opposed to using a standard system. The starting rate for a complete custom solution is quickly about € 5000,- to € 10.000. If you have a more extensive website with specific functionalities, this can be as much as € 25.000,-. For an extensive website with advanced functionalities, the amounts can be as much as € 100.000,- or a multiple of this.

2. SaaS solution / Website builder

In addition to a hand-encoded website, you can also opt for website software in the form of a SaaS solution. SaaS (Software as a service) is a service in which a software application is offered via the internet instead of being installed on a computer or server. With a SaaS solution, your website is hosted on the server of the provider. You pay for the use of the software and receive a license that allows you to use the platform. You do not own the software, but by purchasing licenses you have the right to use the software. Examples of SaaS solutions such as website builders are Jimdo, Wix, and Weebly.

With ‘website builders’ you can build a website without design skills and knowledge of programming language. Website builders offer various themes (designs) and built-in functionality. You choose a theme and can start filling the content, i.e. placing text, images, and videos. With most website builders you can also make a number of standard changes to the design of the theme by moving certain blocks with the so-called ‘drag and drop’ function.

Advantages of this website software

The biggest advantage of website builders is, of course, the ease of use. Without technical knowledge, anyone can make a professional website.

Disadvantages of this website software

The main disadvantage of such solutions is their lack of flexibility. The adjustment options will be largely limited to choosing colors and shifting ‘movable’ blocks. So you can’t add custom functions or styles that aren’t included in the website builder. Although website builders like Wix or Jimdo seem attractive because of their simplicity, they lack a dynamic power compared to a CMS system.

3. CMS platforms

Content Management Systems are systems that allow you to create a professional website without any technical knowledge. CMS systems differ from website builders because they contain basic functionality that can be expanded with various ‘add-ons’.

A CMS is a piece of software that has already been built by a company or an individual and is now offered for mass use. Some of these CMS systems are commercial, so you have to pay a license or usage fee for them. Other CMS systems are ‘open source’ and therefore free to use. Open source means that the source code is completely open and freely available to absolutely everyone. You can download the code for free, after which you can get started yourself or together with a development team.

The CMS market is very diverse. The solutions differ per form, functionality, and cost. In general, CMS systems can be divided into 2 categories:

• Open-source CMS platforms (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal)
• Enterprise CMS systems (Adobe, Microsoft Sharepoint, Oracle WebCenter).

3a. Open Source CMS systems

Open source is software whose source code (sources) has been published and is freely available to everyone. Anyone can and may copy, modify, supplement, and distribute this software without any cost in terms of copyrights and/or surcharges.

An open-source CMS system can be used for free and can be modified as often as you like. A lot of work is done with add-ons, parts or functions that you can add to your website. Some parts (themes and plugins) can also be paid for or work with for example license fees. Even with paid parts, you are free to change them to your own wishes.

Because of the diversity, knowledge of the CMS is a prerequisite for a professional result. You have to think carefully in advance about which functions you want to implement and make a choice in the various add-ons (called plugins) that meet this need. In most cases, these plug-ins have to be configured manually.

For setting up a website based on a CMS platform, technical knowledge is an advantage. Basically it is possible to use such a CMS platform without technical knowledge to create a website. If you are not demanding and have the time to get to know such CMS systems, then this is certainly possible. If you really want to provide a professional website with various functionalities, then you still need to hire a specialist who can help you with the technical realization of your website.

TOP 3 CMS platforms

The top 3 CMS platforms are:

WordPress (58.9% market share)
Drupal (7% market share)
Joomla (4.7% market share)
WordPress is by far the most popular platform with a market share of almost 60%. open-source CMS is a perfect solution for small and medium-sized companies with an average budget. You can develop fairly quickly, are flexible and have a scalable website that can grow with your business. When it comes to webshops (e-commerce), Magento is the most popular CMS platform.

Advantages of this website software

Compared to website builders, CMS systems offer much more flexibility. You have thousands of themes (designs) to choose from that can still be adapted to your own wishes, provided you have the technical knowledge (HTML, CSS, PHP, javascript). In addition, you can add all kinds of functionalities with the help of plugins. These functionalities can also be adapted to your own wishes if you have the technical knowledge. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but start from a base developed by another company or individual and adapt it to your own wishes.

Disadvantages of this website software

A disadvantage of an open-source CMS system is that it is more vulnerable than a manually encoded website or an enterprise CMS system that we will discuss in the next chapter. This is mainly because it is more interesting for hackers to attack a popular open-source system than a custom-made website because with the popular systems a hacker can ‘abuse’ many websites at the same time. Technical knowledge and understanding of the CMS system is very important in this respect. You have to know the do’s and don’ts to be able to adequately secure your website. Open-source CMS systems are not necessarily unsafe, but you need to use them properly, secure them and keep the software up-to-date.

3b. Enterprise CMS systems

Enterprise CMS systems are complex proprietary systems designed for large organizations. According to research, organizations go for an enterprise solution in the following situations:

• Complex websites in terms of cross-channel, contextual and interactive customer experiences for robust websites
• Integrations with other systems
• System must support multiple websites with many languages
• Have a substantial budget
• In other words, these systems are made for large companies with complex user interactions and complex operations. Therefore, enterprise CMS systems are also robust and feature-rich to meet these needs.

Advantages of this website software

Enterprise CMS systems are highly advanced and rich in functionality. Because these are commercial products, there is often good support. This applies to both system updates and technical support.

Disadvantages of this website software

The main disadvantage of such solutions is the price. An enterprise CMS solution can easily have a price of six digits. Another disadvantage is the limited flexibility compared to a manually coded website. The capabilities of such systems are very extensive but at the same time the limiting factor.

Conclusion

Manually encoded website software

Manually encoded websites offer a great deal of flexibility. They are built from the ground up and can be developed entirely according to your own wishes. Yet, the development time is quite long and the costs are high. Manually coded websites quickly exceed € 10.000,- and can cost up to 6 digits depending on your wishes and the size of the website. Manually coded websites are in a good solution for large companies with a large budget and very specific needs.

SaaS solution

Website builders or SaaS solutions (such as Jimdo and Wix) are the easiest to use and the fastest development time. Nevertheless, you have to be satisfied with the functionality and styles they offer, because you can’t change much and the flexibility is nil. Prices for using a website builder are quite favorable compared to the other options and are about € 15,- per month depending on your needs. A SaaS solution is an excellent option for a hobbyist who wants to make his own website.

Open-source CMS platform

Open-source CMS platforms (such as WordPress and Drupal) offer more room for customization, but you do need to have some technical knowledge or hire a platform expert. Possibilities are almost endless, you are flexible and your website is highly scalable so it can grow with your company. The development time is short and you should be able to launch your website pretty quickly. Security is a point of attention, especially when processing personal data. It is important that you call in a platform expert who can take precautions regarding the security of your website. Prices for a website based on an open-source CMS are between € 500,- and € 10.000,- depending on your wishes and the size of your website.

Enterprise CMS platform

As far as enterprise-level systems (such as Adobe Experience Manager) are concerned, most of them offer advanced functionality for managing multiple websites, channels, and complex organizational processes. Enterprise CMS platforms are very expensive and quite flexible. An enterprise CMS is a good option for a large company with a large budget without very specific requirements in terms of functionalities.

About FML Marketing 

We thank you for reading our blog What website software? Choose the best website software! FML Marketing is a digital marketing agency located in Estepona. Our team specializes in web design, search engine optimization, social media solutions, and graphic design.

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What is a CDN?

CDN stands for Content Delivery Network, a worldwide network of servers that can be used to deliver content, such as images and videos, to the end user via the fastest route. For example, website owners can use a CDN to make web pages load faster.

Why use a CDN?

The purpose of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) is to deliver web content quickly and efficiently to end users. The internet is a web of networks and failure or congestion in one of those networks, therefore, causes delays. When a site’s loading time is slow, many a web surfer quits and that is why content providers turn to a CDN to ensure that their traffic is always optimized.

CND under the hood

That is why a CDN consists of a lot of extra servers that are placed at data centers and ISPs. Each CDN uses a different approach to deliver content efficiently. Providers, such as Akamai, have a policy to be as close to a user as possible. In order to deliver the cast web content as directly as possible. CDNs are not paid for by the network operators, but by content parties who want to ensure that their web traffic is delivered quickly and efficiently to customers.

Images and other Content

First, a CDN ensures that files, such as images, videos, style sheets, and JavaScript, are copied from the source to servers on different continents. Once the website owner has implemented the CDN, by changing the Internet addresses (URLs) of page elements, the Content Delivery Network will start receiving requests for certain files. The CDN then finds the optimal route. Next, it redirects the end user to the server that can deliver this file the fastest. This is usually, but not always, the server closest to the end user.

Search Engine Optimization

Website speed is current day, while I write this article, a very hot potato. Not just in terms of user experience, but even more so for your SEO. Often referred to as Website Ranking.

Website Loading Speed

Preventing website delays is an important issue for all websites today. Search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo etc.) make no secret of this: loading time is an important criterion. The CDN shortens the response time of your site and improves the loading speed.

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Website Design: What is an SSL certificate?

An SSL connection is an encrypted connection between the visitor of your website and the server. You can easily identify an SSL connection with the URL in the address bar of your browser (https://www.domain.com), the lock before or after the URL or a green bar.

Why an SSL certificate?

An SSL certificate gives a visitor the confidence that their personal data is handled securely and that malicious parties can not intercept the data if they are entered on the website.

Moreover, you comply with the new legislation in this way, because you ensure that the traffic to and from your website proceeds securely. The certificate provides for the encryption of the connection and for checking the identity of your website. This prevents others from being able to read, but you also prevent information that is sent to your website or sent from the website can be modified.

Different forms of SSL certificates:

• Extended Validation (EV): this is the highest level of validation and gives the visitor 100% guarantee that the visited website is optimally secured;
• Organization Validation (OV): just as with EV, your company is controlled by the Chamber of Commerce, but if you do not use any financial or personal data on your website, you better opt for OV;
• Domain validation (DV): limited level of protection, intended for websites with few visitors or an intranet;
• Multi-domain: if you have multiple websites this is the best solution and cost-saving. There are also multi-domain certificates with EV, so extra safe;
• Wildcard: if you have multiple subdomains on one server that you want to secure, this is a cheap and easy solution.

VIDEO – How to apply an SSL certificate to your website

Contact FML Marketing is you would like to learn more about the benefits of SSL secured websites, or advice when purchasing an SSL certificate. We will gladly help you!

FML – The creative marketing agency in Marbella, Estepona and San Pedro

FML Marketing is a creative, digital marketing agency located in Estepona. You will find our office on Avenida Litoral 45 when entering Estepona from the A-7 from Marbella. We support local and International businesses with Web Design, Website Maintenance, Search Engine Optimization, and digital marketing (social media). Contact us via (+34) 6 50 80 12 43 or via info@fmlmarketing.com

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