The post Which website platform is best for my business? (Part 1) appeared first on Rivmedia Web Design.
]]>With so many options how do you choose the best website platform for your business? We compare the most popular ones to help you decide.
Glossary:
Before we dive in, here’s a quick glossary of terms that pop up from time to time:
CMS – Content management system: the software used to manage your website content and allow you to create, edit, and publish.
SEO – Search engine optimisation: how you get found on search engines (i.e. Google)
eCommerce – Adding the functionality of people being able to make purchases through your website
Design – how the website looks
Functionality – the features used on the website (online forms, sliders, etc.)
Apps & plugins – software that extends the functionality of the platform, e.g. a plugin to create contact forms
Website maintenance – all CMS platforms require ongoing maintenance, just like you would for a car to keep them running well. Maintenance is taken care of as part of the price of some platforms, others you have to manage it yourself (by doing it yourself, or outsourcing to someone who can)
Reading time: about 5-6 minutes
As a business owner, you know that a website is one of your most important marketing tools. 75% of consumers admit to making a judgement on a company’s credibility based on their website design. As such, careful consideration needs to be made to ensure it is created to best suit your needs and appeal to your audience.
With so many website platforms to choose from though how do you decide which one is right for your business?
In this two-part article, I’ll provide an overview of the most popular platforms to help you determine which one is right for you covering Customisability, Cost, Site Speed, Security, Support, SEO, and Ease of Use.
Based on usage statistics and current trends, I’ll be comparing the following website platforms:
To begin with, we’ll start with the most popular CMS (Content Management System) platforms; WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.

WordPress is the most popular website platform powering 40% of all websites on the internet and holds a massive 64% of the known CMS market. It’s popularity and continual growth can be attributed to a number of factors. Most notably; the vast amount of design and functionality options and its usability.
Any! Originally created as a blogging platform it does this best, but over the years has expanded to offer functionalities to run any type of website; a blog, information website, directory, online shop, membership site, a combination of all of the above, you name it. There really isn’t any limit to the kind of site you can build with WordPress and it will suit the majority of businesses. The only exception where it might not be ideal (being resource-heavy) is large scale websites (1000’s of pages + very heavy traffic).
WordPress offers users a lot of choices right from the beginning which might be confusing at first but is very flexible in the long run. It’s a platform that you can constantly build on as your business grows which makes it continually adaptable. If you are looking for full customisation, easy access to support, an abundance of features, and unrestricted growth potential, WordPress is a great choice. Initial investment is required to develop your site and you will need to invest either your time or money to continue running it, but it is still a very affordable platform.

Joomla is the second most popular CMS on the web with a 6.7%% market share. The technology behind Joomla is similar to that of WordPress
Similar to WordPress, Joomla is very adaptable with the types of websites you can create with it, from simple information websites to complex e-commerce sites. If anything its a little more flexible than WordPress in that you can make a lot of customisations without relying on as many extensions/plugins. However it’s worth noting that, Joomla’s market share is declining due to factors including ease of use, price, availability of developers/support, and so on.
If you are looking for a middle ground between out-of-the-box power and user-friendliness or a good option for social networking and e-commerce, Joomla might be the one for you. It has a steeper learning curve, a smaller ecosystem (of templates, extensions, and support) and is less SEO friendly. It’s still a very solid option though used by big brands.

Drupal has been around longer than the above platforms but has slowly been declining in popularity due to various reasons; it currently has a market share of around 2.2%. It too has similar technology to WordPress and Joomla but of the three is the most technically advanced CMS.
Drupal can be used for any type of website and is incredibly versatile. If you’re planning on building a huge site with extensive features it would be an ideal choice. However, for most businesses (who don’t require large scale sites), a simpler CMS is more than sufficient and wins out on factors such as budget and ease of use.
Drupal is great for technically complex and large scale websites as it can handle thousands of pages and high volume traffic. Being more complicated than other website platforms to set-up it tends to be more expensive but does also come with unlimited customisation options. It offers a lot out of the box, is built for speed and performance, and has great security and SEO features. At the same time, it is absolutely not suitable for beginners and requires a developer both for the build and ongoing work.
Continue reading Part Two where I will discuss Squarespace, Shopify, and Wix and provide an overall conclusion.

The post Which website platform is best for my business? (Part 1) appeared first on Rivmedia Web Design.
]]>The post Which website platform is best for my business? (Part 2) appeared first on Rivmedia Web Design.
]]>With so many options how do you choose the best website platform for your business? We compare the most popular ones to help you decide.
In part 1 of this topic, we compared WordPress, Joomla and Drupal and now will discuss Squarespace, Shopify and Wix.

The concept behind Squarespace is simple: it’s a website publishing platform that lets you build a sleek looking site without necessarily resorting to coding. It doesn’t have as large a market share as the previous 3 CMS platforms we discussed, but its popularity over the last few years has been on the rise.
Squarespace is very versatile in that you can create a wide variety of sites ranging from simple one-page portfolios to fully integrated e-commerce sites. There really isn’t any limit as to what kind of site you can create, but there are limitations as to how far you can customise and add certain functionalities to it. Depending on the type of site you’re creating this will either be a non-issue or a hindrance.
Squarespace has a lot of advantages in that its very affordable to get started and a lot of the ongoing work is all taken care of for you. Additionally, its aimed at people who lack expert tech skills so has been created to be user friendly enough that you can manage it yourself. Developers love it because when they hand over the site to their client they can be confident they will have an excellent user experience. Its limited features might not be ideal for all business owners but for simpler websites and in terms of ease of use for absolute beginners Squarespace is a great choice.

Shopify is an all-inclusive platform created specifically for e-commerce websites. At the forefront of its development is convenience, ease of use, and great support.
Shopify is a website platform designed specifically for online stores and can cater for small businesses right up to enterprise-level sites with thousands of products. It’s completely scalable so you can adjust your plan accordingly as your business grows. If e-commerce is your primary focus, Shopify is a great choice.
As a dedicated e-commerce platform, Shopify comes with a range of integrated store management tools; inventory management, statistics, marketing solutions, and more. It also handles all the technical parts of your store which means you don’t ever have to worry about maintenance. It’s completely scalable and can grow as your business does. Like anything, there is a learning curve involved but it is very user friendly (even for complete beginners) and Shopify support is excellent. One disadvantage is you don’t have full control over everything and additional costs for apps can quickly add up which can make it expensive for start-ups.

Wix hosts a whopping 110 million websites; its popularity attributed to providing a website builder that is all-inclusive and is quick and affordable to set-up.
Wix is suitable for anything from personal online portfolios to small business and e-commerce websites. It doesn’t accommodate larger more complex sites though and customisation and functionality options are limited so it usually appeals to small businesses and start-ups with a limited budget and who are happy to go with something fairly simple.
Because you can build a site with Wix cheaply, its a great platform to at least get you online if you have a very limited budget. It’s also handy that all the tech side of things is taken care of and you can manage ongoing changes and updates yourself. Should your business expand in the future though you might outgrow it and end up spending more anyway on a re-design. Like all things, you get what you pay for.

Now that we’ve covered 6 of the most popular platforms, which one is the best?
All have pros and cons and which one is best is dependant on a number of factors such as your needs, budget, time, and skills. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help narrow down the list:
Of all 6 platforms discussed, WordPress, Squarespace, and Shopify stand out for me as favourites.
If you’re looking for a versatile, fully customisable, adaptable and professional website within a reasonable budget you really can’t go passed WordPress; there’s a reason that it powers almost 1 in 3 websites across the globe… Nuff said
For those who have smaller budgets and a simpler website is sufficient, then Squarespace is a great alternative. With everything all-inclusive, no maintenance, and the ability to take care of ongoing management yourself, its no wonder its popularity over the last few years has continued to rise.
Finally, if you’re building an e-commerce site specifically and want an all-inclusive solution that you can manage yourself and not worry about maintenance, then Shopify is a great choice. Yes, the costs to run it can add up depending on how far you push it, but what you get in return is really great value for money.
We hope this article helps you to choose the best website platform for your project and of course if this is something we can help you with, feel free to get in touch!
The post Which website platform is best for my business? (Part 2) appeared first on Rivmedia Web Design.
]]>The post Are you ready for Gutenberg? appeared first on Rivmedia Web Design.
]]>Gutenberg is a new editor that will replace the current one in the next major WordPress update. Here we provide some tips to help with the transition.
If you’re asking “What’s a Gutenberg?” it’s a new WordPress editor that will replace the current one in the next major WordPress update (November 27). Basically it’s an attempt to modernise the page/post writing experience by adding more features (similar to page builders).
It’s been available for a while for users to download and test out, but feedback so far hasn’t been great. At the time of writing this blog, most users are only rating it 1-2 stars (eek!). This doesn’t mean things will stay this way though; WP developers are updating it almost daily to make improvements.
The other problem is that it may not be compatible with some plugins or themes and could cause websites to not work properly or possibly even crash (unlikely, but possible). Apparently Gutenberg will be enabled by default, so this is obviously a concern.
This might all sound a little overwhelming but it’s all good, there’s always a way around it! ?
One option is not to update your WordPress core. Now, this does pose a security risk by doing so, but as long as you have your back-up and security plugins in place I don’t see any harm in leaving this for a little bit and let everyone else test things out first. Then when all the kinks have been worked out, update then.
It’s important to know though that some WordPress core updates can be automatic (for security reasons). So if your site is updated automatically you could be in for a surprise, and not the good kind! To work around this, there’s a nifty little plugin that you can download called Easy Updates Manager which allows you to disable automatic updates. Here’s a quick video which shows how it works:
Easy Updates Manager Overview from UpdraftPlus on Vimeo.
As mentioned you can download the Gutenberg plugin now to give it a test run. Before doing so though I strongly urge you to do a full back-up of your site, the current version is still a little unstable so you need to be careful with it. Ideally, if you have a maintenance page plugin installed, enable it while you are testing to avoid any visitors coming to your site and not seeing it the way they’re supposed to (should Gutenberg cause any issues).
I use this one: Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode by SeedProd.
Once installed, you can get a feel for it and how it works, but more importantly, you will be able to see if/how it affects your site.
If you’re having compatibility problems or are just not ready for change yet, the WP developers have got you covered. You can install the Classic Editor plugin and keep using it until you are ready to make the switch. It will disable Gutenberg upon activation so it’s very easy to use.
An alternative option is the Disable Gutenberg Plugin. By default, it disables Gutenberg entirely, but you can opt to disable it by user role or post type (blog posts, pages, etc.) so you can test it out on each post type one at a time. For example, I use WP Bakery page builder for all my pages on this site, but just the default WordPress editor in my blog posts. So I used this plugin to disable Gutenberg throughout my site with the exception of blog posts so I could test it out there.
This would also be handy if you’re having compatibility issues with some areas of your site so need to disable it for those, but start using it in other areas.
It sounds like a headache and might be in the beginning, but I believe this is a positive step forward for WordPress users. The classic builder is quite limited which is why a lot of sites install page builders or just compromise with simpler layouts, particularly in blog posts.
The core team has given developers heaps of time to update their plugins and themes to make them compatible with Gutenberg, so making the switch might not be as big a deal as some are making out. However, it is possible that some plugins/themes won’t be fully compatible, but as discussed above, there are tools available to work around that for now.
Change is hard and it can be frustrating having to learn something new… yet again. Without change though, we can’t stay in-line with modern trends and our businesses cannot grow and evolve.
I personally don’t mind the new editor, but I don’t love it either. I’ve only tested it within blog posts thus far and yes there are quite a few kinks that make it not quite ready to use yet, but I can see its potential.
Don’t be frightened of change, get excited for what the future holds!
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]]>The post Important PHP security update website owners need to make before 2019 appeared first on Rivmedia Web Design.
]]>If you have a CMS website (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc.) chances are there’s an important security update you NEED to make before 2019.
If your website is built on a CMS system (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc.), there are some important changes coming up you should be aware of. These kinds of websites are built using a programming language called PHP. I won’t bore you explaining what that is, all you need to know is that it is the code used to create your website, and very soon a version of it is going to become vulnerable to security issues.
Just as there are WordPress and plugin versions, there are also versions of PHP. A very common one (PHP 5.6) is about to reach what is called end of life (EOL) by the 31st December 2018.
What this means is, there are newer versions of PHP available so support for the older versions will cease. Therefore, sites running on these older versions will become vulnerable to any new PHP 5 threats because security updates will no longer be provided.
Don’t panic, this doesn’t mean that your site will be hacked if you don’t upgrade, but leaving it does increase your risk. It’s the same as your WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates. They are updated to improve functionality, resolve bug fixes, and patch any security vulnerabilities. Not updating doesn’t necessarily mean that your site will be hacked, but it certainly increases your chances.
The following table shows important dates for PHP 5 and PHP 7:
Firstly, Find out what PHP version your site is running on. If your website was built more than 1- 2 years ago, chances are strong that you’re running on 5.6. However, even if you have a newer website, it’s still worth checking because many hosting companies still set the default PHP version to 5.6.
According to stats from wordpress.org shown in the pie chart below, about 60% of all WordPress sites are using older versions of PHP. So statistically your site has a high chance of being among them.
If you don’t know where to look to find this setting, you can either ask your web developer, hosting company, or use a plugin such as Display PHP Version.
If you find that you’re site is running on PHP 5.6 or older your next step is to ensure that your theme and plugins are compatible with PHP 7 before upgrading. Here’s another handy plugin that can help with that: PHP Compatibility Checker.
Regularly updated themes & plugins should be fine but if something isn’t compatible, you will have to consider alternatives. It’s probably a good idea to do so anyway if they’re not up to date.
If you’re unable to do so yourself, again you can either get your web developer or hosting company to make the PHP upgrade for you. As always, have a full back-up of your site on hand before making any major changes.
Once you do, it’s also wise to completely clear your website & browser cache to ensure everything is still working as it should.
With regard to which version specifically you should upgrade to, ideally, it should be PHP 7.2 (the most recent version) which is fully supported till the end of 2020. If this isn’t possible, then at least 7.1 as security updates for 7.0 also ends very soon (3rd December 2018).
As a bonus, upgrading to PHP 7 comes with a number of benefits. Most notably, improved website performance and site speed, so get upgrading!
If you would like help from us with this, feel free to either contact us here to discuss options.
The post Important PHP security update website owners need to make before 2019 appeared first on Rivmedia Web Design.
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