How to speed up your WordPress Website

Google recommended the average page load of a website on mobile pages is 22 seconds. Does your website load within a blink of an eye? If not, see what causes your site to slow down. Let’s take a look at the factors that speed up your website.

A sluggish website always causes a problem and can be a negative Google factor. The average page load recommended by Google on mobile is 22 seconds. These numbers are enough to understand the importance of having a fast, and reliable site. Ultimately, a website should load as fast as possible, and making sure your WordPress website is fast and performs well is crucial.

The biggest issue with having a slow-loading website is that your visitors have only a few seconds to judge and make final decisions about your site. Often users lose patience and click away which enhances the bounce rate. However, issues can be solved by opting for custom WordPress development and updating everything from themes to plugins.

In today’s time, users expect pages to load within seconds. The best thing you can do for your business is to have a fast WordPress site. However, having a slow-running website can cause you money and a tremendous amount of traffic.

Even worse, if your site has slower speeds, you are likely to be discovered by your potential customers. This means a slow site will negatively affect your SEO performance. If there was ever a time to understand how to speed up a WordPress website and what causes your site to slow down, this is the time.

What causes your site to slow down?

Here, you will be able to understand the negative effects long load times can have on your website. However, it is essential that you know what causes a site to slow down. Let’s have a look at the most common causes. 

The first and foremost reason your site has slow loading behavior is because of poor website development. At the same time, the hosting provider plays a vital role along with the plan you choose for your website. Hence, you need to ensure that you choose a quality web host for your site.

There’s a chance your server is down, and so will your site. Another reason your site can experience downtime is if it’s getting huge traffic. Having enormous traffic may also cause your website to load slowly.

You’re using insufficient hosting service 

Hosting is crucial and responsible for making your site available to the world, and that’s why hosting service can be a good or bad factor. So, you should choose a wise host that has a great reputation and brings performance to your site. 

You’re not optimizing images

You might know that images take up significantly more space than most other types of content like text, code, and static files.It is an underrated truth that images or videos have the potential of carrying more data than dozens of pages containing HTML and text.

How to test the loading time of your website?

Now you have an idea of what causes the site to slow down, it’s time to learn how you test website speed and how it impacts your website. Being a website owner, you should care about website speed and overall performance. Luckily, various tools and techniques are available for testing and boosting page speed.

Website speed is obviously an important factor for SEO and website traffic. It also said that faster sites do end up ranking higher. Hence people have started focusing more on page speed. Here is a list of some tools to examine website speed.

• https://www.pingdom.com/
• https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
• https://gtmetrix.com/

All of the tools mentioned above, provide us with an insight of each issue and solutions to each issue on the tested website. Moreover, you can go through the suggestions provided by the tools mentioned above to increase your site speed.

What’s a good website load time?

The ideal website load time for mobile is 1-2 seconds. It is not wrong to say that speed is the oxygen of the website. While this may seem obvious, the need for speed is alive, especially among internet users and search engine crawlers. 

Today, in the fast-paced digital environment, it is crucial for businesses to develop websites that deliver a seamless web experience to visitors. Luckily, companies are investing in tools and technologies to make sure their website performance is stable and optimized in real time.

How to speed up your WordPress site?

We know the importance of speed and efficiency in today’s digital era. In such circumstances, if your website loads slower than expected, chances are your website traffic and bottom line are affected. As a matter of fact, developers and business owners are wondering how to speed up WordPress sites. Hence, we discovered the best practices designed by dedicated developers to increase your WordPress site speed.

Use a lightweight theme

Like plugins, your existing WordPress theme can also slow down your web server. However, instead of using fancy themes which consist of high-quality images, you should opt for a simple theme with necessary features.

Read here: How To Converting HTML website to WordPress Theme – Step by Step Guide

Remove unnecessary plugins

We used to say that if you spend money on unnecessary things, you won’t have them to buy necessary things. This is true when using unnecessary WordPress plugins on websites as each plugin works as a mini-software that harms your site’s load times. 

It is advisable to keep plugins and themes updated and delete unused ones to speed up a website. You can delete unwanted plugins with the help of a dedicated WordPress developer. Ultimately, consider finding lightweight plugins. 

Optimize images

If speed is the oxygen of a website, images are life. To give a new look and feel to your website, images play a vital role and help boost engagement. However, if your images are not optimized, then they could break your website. In fact, images that aren’t optimized are one of the causing speed factors.

So, before uploading images, we recommend you optimize them according to the web and use them for better performance.

Read here: How to Optimize your WordPress website for Mobile Users

Run performance tests

Timely performance optimization makes your website stand out in the market. Performance-based on the user’s region, internet connectivity, and behavior of the visitors. Page speed is also dependent on the amount and type of content on each page. To get the exact idea of performance, test your site with performance measuring tools. 

Update themes and plugins

Updating website themes and plugins is the finest practice you could perform to decrease the page load time. Being a WordPress administrator, you need to update WordPress core, themes, and plugins to run the site as efficiently as possible. Always make sure you are running the latest versions to optimize performance, keep the site secure, and fix bugs.

That’s it

These are the best practices you can follow to improve WordPress speed and performance. We hope you find these tips helpful and align with your goals. If you are concerned about how to speed up your WordPress site, our team of dedicated developers can help you with custom WordPress development and perform these practices for you. 

Contact Creole Studios for any questions you may have to speed up your website today.

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Originally Published: Creolestudios.com

5 Reasons Why a Custom WordPress Plugin Is Better for Your Business

Quick Summary: More than 55,000 plugins are available in WordPress with supreme functionalities and features for users. What’s the big deal about the custom WordPress plugin? It’s easy to create a custom WordPress plugin with a WordPress development company. Learn why investing in custom plugins can benefit your business.

The most common reason for website owners to choose WordPress is the range of plugin availability in the market. However, plugins are the best way to provide additional functionality to your website. It is not wrong to say that the popularity of WordPress plugins is something of a restraint.

More than 55,000 plugins are available for users in WordPress, and their download reaches one billion today. The only reason for such a growing number of plugins is the advancement of technology and the sheer number of plugins that benefit WordPress website owners.

There was a time when a website was just a platform to create brand awareness. Nowadays, the website is everything from user interaction to landing on a website as a customer. This is possible just because of the custom WordPress development.

WordPress themes enhance the look of your website, and plugins modify the functionality. It means you can easily edit and manage the plugins to minimize the impact of upgrades and make the web more extensible. Moreover, it can be easily installed and used if you take the help of professional developers.

Why might you want a custom WordPress plugin?

The sheer number of plugins available to WordPress users and that’s why sometimes it is difficult to decide which to choose and which can be over-hyped. While some offer niche solutions, few are must-have WordPress plugins for all sites.

It doesn’t matter what kind of site you’re running, or what area you belong to, there are custom WordPress plugins that you will want to install. Simply, plugins can help you do anything you desire to make your website a successful and user-centric website.

How to create a custom WordPress plugin?

There are many plugins available in the market at zero cost, and even with the help of a WordPress plugin development company, you can develop your own custom plugins that suit your business requirements.

Before you start building your custom WordPress plugin, it is essential to know what goes into a plugin. In this guide, you will learn why investing in custom WordPress plugins can benefit your business. To create a custom plugin, you need the help of a WordPress development company that can develop and integrate plugins from the ground up.

Read more: Top 5 best WordPress plugins for eCommerce business websites

Should you invest in Custom WordPress plugin development?
(Key consideration)

Custom WordPress plugins can do almost everything you want to do on your website as there are different plugins available such as site maintenance, marketing & sales, content plugins, API plugins, and community plugins. These plugins serve unlike purposes tailored to your business needs.

Plugins are not just limited to extending the functionalities. For example, you have four websites with the same themes but there’s something you want to add as a part of the additional functions that are not possible with themes. As such, plugins come into the picture and help you inject the features easily.

This is why we suggest you consider these factors for custom WordPress plugin development.

1. Boost the overall performance:

Custom plugins are expensive, and that’s the truth we have to believe as soon as possible. However, they take a long time and expertise to get right. As such, it may break your bank.

The exact cost could vary depending on the scope of your website, the features you need, and so on. Ultimately, there’s no limit on how much you can spend and advance your site.

The price will rise as the features increase, and this is true. Nevertheless, the cost might be worth it. Having custom plugin development can help you regain your sales funnel and income in the long run.

These plugins will not only help in boosting performance but also enable you to add additional functionality to your website. Unlike downloaded plugins, customized plugins will work based on how you want them to perform to enhance the overall user experience.

For businesses, today, it is essential that you have a website that runs faster. However, a sluggish website can switch your visitors to click away, and it will impact your top-line growth. A custom WordPress plugin is the best way to speed up your website and enhance the number of visitors to your site.

2. Eliminate security threats:

Website security is of utmost importance to keep cyber actors away and stop accessing your user’s information and data. Since WordPress is an open-source platform, there’s always a fear of security issues. Downloaded plugins can create big problems when someone identifies your website as insecure, and you can be on the hunt for hackers. Hence, a customized WordPress plugin is the best option you should choose to save yourself from being hacked.

Read more: Are WordPress Plugins safe to use?

3. Generate backlinks for website:

This is one of the best considerations as you can ask your WordPress custom plugin development partner for a plugin that can generate maximum links for your website. After installing a plugin to your website, you will have maximum and non-stop backlinks for your site.

4. Active support & maintenance:

The professional developer will always listen to your business requisites to ensure you get the timely support and help you want. Additionally, a customized WordPress plugin developed by a developer comes with active support and maintenance which reduces the need to look after your plugin’s updates.

5. Extend the functionalities:

There’s nothing called perfection when it comes to improvements. You may have a website that serves your customers but you always look out for better ways to obey the users of the website. The custom WordPress plugin development supports the customer requirements and works accordingly. Henceforth, choosing a wise WordPress plugin for the site is beneficial to managing the success of a specific business.

Summing up!

Custom WordPress plugin development is the best option you can choose to make your website successful. All you need to do is avail WordPress plugin development services to make up your website the way you want. Creole Studios can help you add features to your WordPress site using custom plugin development.


[Original Source: https://www.creolestudios.com/why-custom-wordpress-plugin-better-for-your-business/ ]

Premade WordPress Theme vs. Custom Website Design: Which is Better?

Quick Summary: What should you choose? A custom WordPress theme or premade WordPress website design. Find out why you should choose a custom WordPress theme over a pre-built WordPress theme? Here are the pros and cons of premade and custom WordPress themes.  Let’s dive into the article to decide which theme is best for your WordPress website.

The first impression is the last impression, and this sentence stands true when it comes to building a premade WordPress website as well. Unless and until you build a captivating and visually appealing website, the users might simply skip and move on to your competitors. However, such situations can be avoided by using vibrant WordPress themes. 

But the job does not stop there. Regarding WordPress themes, you stand at a crossroads with the premade WordPress theme vs. Custom theme debate. Either you can create a website with the premade themes or make it from scratch. Custom WordPress development will help you design a website that speaks your value and drive customers that are solely interested in whatever you are offering. 

If such a dilemma has captured your mind, we suggest going through the article as we shall explain the difference between the two and help you make an informed choice.

Why does your theme design for a WordPress site matter?

Before we get to the differences, let us understand the benefits that a good WordPress theme design brings to the table. 

First and foremost, the entire purpose of a theme design is to make the website pleasing to the eye. It includes the usage of the right kind of fonts and color palettes to create an alluring website, something that will catch the eye of the users. 

But a WordPress theme is more than just the appearance. The right WordPress theme holds the power to make your website user-friendly, flexible, and efficient. 

Since certain themes run faster than others due to their subjective file size, operational functionality, web hosting, etc. Moreover, the right choice can enhance website navigation and complement the mobile responsiveness factor of the website. 

What is a WP Theme? 

A WordPress theme is a group of files containing style sheets, graphics, and code responsible for the website’s overall appearance. While people consider a WordPress theme the “skin” of the website, it is much more than that.

Pros of premade WordPress Themes

1. Quick installation 

Premade WordPress themes can be installed in a jiffy since all you need to do is go to the official WordPress, download the required theme, and upload it to your website. 

2. Less expensive 

As of 2022, there are over 9000 free themes in the official WordPress repository. These themes differ in terms of functionality and efficiency. 

If you need to build a WordPress website within budgetary constraints, premade WordPress themes are the best options. 

3. Minimal knowledge required 

You need not require any kind of coding knowledge or experience to download and operate premade WordPress themes. It can be done effortlessly by a non-tech person. The process only includes downloading, installation, and uploading.

4. Customizable 

While premade themes do not offer 100% customization, you can still make the best of it by changing the font, text size, color, and overall layout. Changing such minute things can give your brand a fresh identity. 

5. SEO-Friendly 

Most of the premade WordPress themes come with SEO solutions. Even if they aren’t optimized, you can use SEO plugins to generate more traffic for your website. 

Cons of premade WordPress Themes 

1. Generic 

Despite the customizations provided, the chances of your website having similarities with another one are too high. This can rip off the uniqueness factor of your WordPress website. 

2. Slow website 

More often than not, premade WordPress themes contain unnecessary features. While this might be added to make them more practical, it might slow down your website. 

Read More: How to speed up your WordPress website

3. Lacks security 

Security is not guaranteed with premade themes. Themes made with badly-written code make it easier for hackers to attack your website. 

4. Questionable flow of updates 

While you might get some amount of updates with premium WordPress themes, the same is not guaranteed with free premade themes. This might cause more security breaches and make your website an easy target for malicious cyber attacks. 

5. Absence of responsiveness 

Premade WordPress themes might or might not be mobile-responsive. The layout might change on varying devices, making it difficult for your users to access your website freely.

What is a Custom WordPress Theme?

As the name suggests, a custom WordPress theme is made from scratch while keeping the personalized requirements and functionalities in mind. It is one of the best ways to create a unique and distinctive brand image. 

Custom WordPress themes give you full freedom to customize your website as per the business requirements. Either build it with theme builders or hire a WordPress development agency to do it for you. 

Pros of Custom WordPress Theme 

1. Unique brand identity 

The level of distinctiveness that comes with a custom WordPress theme remains unparalleled. Your website will have a completely different layout, color palette, and font, as compared to your competitors, something that will appeal to your target audience. 

2. SEO-Friendly 

A custom WordPress theme built from scratch can provide the SEO optimization required to generate leads. It can help your website get traffic to boost sales and revenue. 

3. Built as per your Requirements 

Since a custom WordPress theme is built specifically for your business, it will not contain any unnecessary or generic elements. This can help you build a unique brand image with the required functionalities. 

4. Immaculate Support 

Hiring a custom WordPress developer can also benefit your website on a long-term basis with their regular updates, support, and maintenance. You can quickly contact the developer whenever there’s any hindrance. 

5. Responsive 

Like SEO, custom WordPress themes are built while keeping the mobile responsiveness factor in mind. In this way, your website will have a uniform layout, irrespective of the platform. 

6. Better Functionality and Efficiency 

Since a custom WordPress theme is made with the required elements, your website will have a better user experience due to its fast-loading feature. For example, custom WordPress websites will have faster loading and better navigation to ensure user experience. 

Cons of Custom WordPress Theme 

1. Requires Investment 

Unlike the free premade WordPress themes, custom themes will require some investment. For example, you will have to hire WordPress developers to create a WP theme from scratch. However, such an investment is surely worth it, given the benefits that you can derive from it. 

2. Time-Consuming 

Apart from the monetary investment, you will have to wait for the WordPress developer to build the theme. Unlike premade WP themes that can be downloaded from the repository, custom WordPress themes will have to be made from scratch, thereby making them time-consuming. This might delay the process of launching your WordPress website. 

Custom Website Design or WordPress Themes? What is better?

Now that we have discussed the varying aspects of premade and custom WordPress themes, which are you going to go for? 

Our suggestion would be to side with a custom WordPress website design. This is because of the number of benefits that come with it in terms of appearance, layout, efficiency, functionality, and support. Yes, it requires you to shell out some money, but this investment is quickly offset against the advantages.

But wait, wouldn’t that require technical expertise? Yes, and that’s what Creole Studios is here for. We can help you build an exclusive, unique, and interactive WordPress theme from scratch, with all the security and flexibility factors. Contact us today to get started!

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Source: creolestudios.com

What are the Advantages of Custom WordPress Development

Quick Summary: WordPress is not just a blogging platform but also a powerful CMS that helps developers build intuitive WordPress websites. Let’s see how custom WordPress can help you grow your business.

One question that always knocks on everyone’s minds is if the website should be built with an existing template or hire a web app development company to develop a custom WordPress development specific to the business goals. 

WordPress is no longer a blogging platform. Powering 43.2% of all websites on the internet in 2022, it has emerged as one of the most powerful content management systems that help developers build instinctive WordPress websites.

From small businesses to big enterprises, everyone has adopted WordPress. Even many eCommerce companies have used custom WordPress development for their online platform. Any web development company cannot ignore WordPress anyhow. 

Why Should You Choose WordPress for Your Website?

WordPress is the simplest platform to use if you are new to web development. However, it also has a lot to offer. Customization of plugins and themes is one of the finest perks WordPress has to offer. 

Reasons to use WordPress CMS

WordPress has grown so much in popularity, and many top brands use WordPress to power their website including Time Magazine, Facebook, and The New York Times.

The following are the reasons why WordPress is the best CMS to make your website. 

WordPress is lasting

There’s no doubt that WordPress is here to stay even if other website builders may disappear. WordPress lets you fork code even without any support from developers. A community of developers, users, and small businesses behind WordPress will ensure it is lasting.

WordPress is SEO-friendly

It is not wrong to say that a website without traffic is just a fruit without taste. To make your website renowned and successful, you need visitors and conversions. WordPress is SEO-friendly and built with search engine traffic in mind. In other words, this means Google and other search engines love WordPress.

Read More: How to scale WordPress website for High Traffic

How can custom WordPress development help grow your business?

So far, we have learned about WordPress development and discussed why to use WordPress CMS. Many sources are available to optimize your website in the best way possible to represent how you can be the perfect fit. However, it is crucial to take the help of custom WordPress development services to set a strong foundation. Although you can also build it yourself, for great results opt for a professional WordPress developer.  

Features of Custom WordPress Development

Themes

The first and foremost feature of WordPress is that you have a choice to install and switch between themes. Themes help users to create an appealing website with or without changing content. Both free and paid themes are available, and developers can select them based on the richness they wish to offer. 

Plugins

There are several extensions & plugins available in the WordPress store supporting the mainstream modules. More than 40,000 plugins are available, and developers can customize them based on specific needs. The plugins are updated to help you walk with the latest technology trends in the market.

Mobile features

WordPress is mobile-friendly as it offers several templates, themes, and extensions for mobile sites. It also supports multiple operating systems like Android and iOS. Currently, the feature is restricted to blogs and is expected to be available for clients across the globe. 

PHP 8 support

WordPress supports PHP 8 – the latest version of PHP programming language. Upgrade to PHP 8 to reap the benefits of the latest features, error fixing, and optimization. Always consult with a custom WordPress development service to fix your site before upgrading to PHP 8.0. However, PHP 8.0 is a major version update with various changes that break backward compatibility and many functionalities. 

Custom content types

The custom content type is another feature WordPress web development offers to users. By creating custom post types, you can separate custom content from regular posts. However, to show them among your typical posts, you should code them into your theme’s funcations.php file. 

There’s by default an option in WordPress where you can list the post types such as blog posts, pages, navigation menus, and attachments. The best thing about the custom post is that you can create new and valuable types of content on your website. There are plenty of ideas you can use and kick-start your imagination. You can add videos, event calendars, and photo galleries.

Advantages of Custom WordPress development

WordPress is the best platform used for creating blogs on overly functional websites. At Creole Studios, we are proficient at WordPress development services packed by skilled developers who hold experience in delivering skillful and best-in-class custom WordPress development solutions. 

When you build a WordPress website from scratch or modify an existing theme, you will get multiple options in design, features, functions, and everything you created to meet your necessities. Custom WordPress development companies can provide unique websites with quality services and support. 

Get exactly what you require

You may want a WordPress theme that helps you fulfill your needs. Having a custom theme will help you modify your website to get what you want, and there are much more features to explore. 

Get secure website

Another benefit of having a custom WordPress website is customization. The developer can design the code keeping safety and security factors in mind. WordPress developers can also upload security plugins and secure websites.

Read More: How to add two-factor authentication to protect your WordPress website

Money-savvy

WordPress is an open-source platform that can be downloaded at no cost along with the source code. Moreover, you will get custom development services at highly competitive rates. 

More features

WordPress is famous just because of its inherent user-friendly experience. Anybody with little knowledge of WordPress can use the platform with ease. That makes it the ideal choice for companies that want a strong base for their online presence.

Ending Up! 

WordPress is the most coherent content management system for any business seeking to build a robust digital presence. If you are on the hunt for a professional custom WordPress website development service, you can count on Creole Studios. We have an in-house team of WordPress developers with advanced knowledge of tools and technologies.

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Originally Published: Creolestudios.com

How to Secure Your WordPress Website from Hackers

Quick Summary: Security is a crucial factor of any website and it must be looked at to protect the website from hackers. Know why WordPress security is essential. Wondering how hackers can attack your WordPress? Here are the ways to secure your website from hackers.

Studies show that almost one out of every six WordPress-powered sites are vulnerable to attack. Therefore, if you have a WordPress site, you must prioritize security. Since WordPress is an open-source platform, chances are high that it suffers from various vulnerabilities. Luckily, keeping a website secure is easy when you follow the right steps.

If your site is vulnerable to security, you must adopt custom WordPress development to update the technology and fix the vulnerabilities with the latest security.

Here, we will get into the details of the most important and dangerous security vulnerabilities that come with using WordPress. Then, we will discuss all the steps you need to make the WordPress website safe, and secure your website.

Why is WordPress Security Important?

Hacking has become a common problem nowadays as globally 30,000 websites are hacked daily. However, a hacked website can cause serious damage to your business reputation and revenue. Therefore, you need to secure your website from hackers gaining access to your site.

Hackers used to hack websites to acquire sensitive information, and passwords, install malicious software and distribute malware to your users. Even worse, they ask you to pay some amount of money to regain access to your website.

Your customers expect it

First, you will have visitors to your website, and later they will become customers if they find your site a safe land. As your business grows, those customers will expect solutions from you in terms of their problems and want you to address them.

As a business owner, you need to keep your customers’ security in mind because if you can’t provide it, you will undermine your customers’ trust in you. So, your customers need a promise that you will not overlook their concerns about keeping information safe, whether it be contact information, payment information, or a basic response to a survey.

Google prefers secure websites

Keeping your WordPress site secure means placing your rank in those top 10 lists as Google likes such websites. Users are interested in visiting safe websites.

Security often affects visibility from a search on Google and has for a while. Therefore, having a safe website is essential to boost your search rank and let users ensure that they land in a safe place. Securing your online presence should be a key consideration and every website needs to ensure safety for its visitors and users.

How safe is WordPress?

If you look at the numbers of WordPress usage, you will get an idea of how popular the platform is. When it comes to security, it is one of the secure platforms to run websites as long as you follow best practices for security.

WordPress is secure but there is a lot that can be done to keep the website security strong and safe from hacks. Hackers often attempt to attack websites with less security and vulnerabilities in WordPress.

However, there is no CMS that ensures you 100% security as every CMS has its security issues. Having a vast community of WordPress, many issues that still exist on other CMS have been solved on WordPress a long ago.

• The WordPress core team is highly skilled and has the best developers in the world.
• WordPress updates frequently and remains functional, efficient, and safe.
• Any complex problem can be easily solved by WordPress developers
• Have best security practices to protect your site from malicious actors.
• WordPress invests a lot in security and ensures the safety of its platform

How can WordPress be attacked?

Generally, the most common issues occur before and after your site has been compromised. The hack aims to gain unauthorized access to your site on an admin level, either from the front end or on the server-side.

WordPress is used by millions of people today, and the platform is built to protect its users, sensitive data, and privacy. However, it uses a lot of plugins that enhance the website functionalities, and these plugins as themes and extensions are created by third parties.

Security of Plugins and Themes

If you talk about all CMS, no CMS is bulletproof and can be 100% foolproof. In the same way, every theme and plugin has its security issues. However, vulnerabilities with plugins and themes can be a security concern and cause hacks within WordPress websites.

Therefore, adding plugins means you need to take some extra measures to keep your website secure. So, it is important to maintain plugin and theme security for your website.

Security of Users

It’s only admin and website owners who should care about website security but also those active users. If you want your website to be secure, you need to ensure that the website has two-factor authentication to prevent users from being attacked.

The thing that every business should keep in mind irrespective of their business size or relevancy, chances are that you can be the next target for hackers.

Outdated Plugins and Themes

WordPress themes and plugins are developed with code, and there could be a mistake in this code. This mistake in code can cause lapses in security, which are called vulnerabilities. Ideally, this is the right time, plugins and themes should have been updated. And hackers know and wait for this to attack websites and exploit the vulnerability.

Malware on site

Malware is a catch used to define any code that allows unauthorized access to your website. Addressing WordPress security means keeping out malware as no system is 100% bulletproof. So, malware is also another security issue you may consider for your website.

How to Secure Your WordPress Website from Hackers?

There are many ways you can strengthen your web protection. But these practices will help you secure your site and keep hackers at bay.

Keep updated website

Keeping your WordPress site updated with WordPress development services is not only an option but a necessity. It is one of the most basic and essential steps. You need to make sure that your website is up to date with the latest version of WordPress, especially plugins or themes. To secure your site from these attacks, it is strongly recommended to update your plugin, extensions, and WordPress versions.

Use a strong password

It is better to use a strong password, mixing lowercase and capital letters and special characters for all your accounts. Never use simple passwords and do not use passwords as generic names since hackers can easily access this information.

Limit logins

The WordPress login page is targeted the most for attacks as it’s sensitive. So, the best way to protect against such attacks is by limiting the number of login attempts and blocking IP addresses. Most of the WordPress security plugins offer this feature, and if you are using the same, limit logins as per your requirements.

Final Thoughts

To secure your WordPress website, follow these WordPress security best practices and enhance the credibility and growth of your business. At Creole Studios, we can help you build your website from scratch with the help of dedicated WordPress developers.

If you think your website might be attacked or you’d like to know more about how we can secure your website, contact us today.

(Original Source: https://www.creolestudios.com/how-to-secure-your-wordpress-website-from-hackers/ )

WordPress Agency vs. Freelance WordPress Developers - Which One is Better?

Quick Summary: Online presence in today’s digital business landscape is important to ensure powerful visibility. For that, you need the help of either a WordPress website design agency or a freelance WordPress developer. Find out the difference between a WordPress website design agency and a freelance WordPress developer. Let’s find out why you should hire a WordPress website design agency.

Having an online presence in the market is extremely important today. No matter what industry you are in and what scale of your business, the requirement for a website cannot be overemphasized. While this is true, the question is who can build a website better that stands out in the market, a WordPress website design agency or a Freelance WordPress developer.

It would be wrong to overwhelm any one side without any corroboration. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of designing the WordPress website through an agency v/s freelance WordPress developer. Also, we will discuss which is better and why.

What’s the Difference Between a WordPress website design agency and a Freelance WordPress developer?

One of the many things to choose when getting started with developing a website is whether you choose a web design agency or a freelancer. Many people turn to freelance web developers as a cheaper option for getting their idea off the ground. However, your business may require more out of your website than most freelancers can provide. Your WordPress website design agency can bang up a job with custom WordPress development to design an easy-to-manage website.

Various factors that set apart the WordPress website agency from a freelancer are access to varied skill sets, standards operating procedures, and the work proficiency. A Freelancer is a person who has no fixed employment and usually works based on specific requirements. However, a web design agency would be a registered company, usually with offices located around the globe.

With the help of a web design agency, you will get access to a skilled team, advanced knowledge, and a professional job done depending on the agency you choose. A Web design agency has a proven track record of previous works and brands that define its work methodology and results.

Ultimately, Both serve as solution partners and exist to solve the same thing – WordPress development.

WordPress Website Design Agency

As the name suggests, A WordPress agency is a team of skilled people providing specialized WordPress development services. WordPress is a broad topic and consists of numerous expertise and offerings. Hence, each agency can offer different offerings based on their skillsets.

New firms used to choose pre-built designs and themes as it’s easier to do, and there’s no need for experienced developers. However, giant businesses want to develop a customized and well-designed website that grabs customers’ attention.

Hiring a WordPress development company is beneficial for clients. What if it costs you some money but is worth it in the long run.

QA and testing team will ensure that website is tested to discover mistakes or oversights that may not have been noted during web development before going live. Ultimately, you don’t have to worry about anything as an in-house team of dedicated professionals will solve the software bugs.

Pros of WordPress Design Agency

Standard work methodology until project completion:

An agency like Creole Studios follows standard methodologies such as scrum, agile, and waterfall to ensure top-class results.

Active support & maintenance:

Hiring a WordPress development agency will provide active support that powers digital growth.

On-time delivery and quality work:

On-time delivery has always been an issue, and hiring an agency would solve your problem by delivering work on time with supreme quality.

Wide range of experience and expertise:

A professional team can execute more quickly, make better decisions, and solve complex problems with the right expertise and skills.

Cons of WordPress Design Agency

Agencies can be an expensive option:

Since agencies focus on using premium tools, technologies, and teams, it can be a costly option to consider for your WordPress development.

Limited to set of services:

Usually, agencies work in an area of interest and offer limited services. So, sometimes you find it challenging to put all your eggs in one basket.

Hidden costs:

You have to pay for what you don’t want and that’s called hidden costs that are usually associated with agencies.

Freelance WordPress Developer

Freelancers can be flexible to your timeline especially when you have urgency as they respond quickly. You have plenty of choices in choosing freelancers that will help you save time and money choosing one over the other.

This is the biggest reason you might have to let them know what you need in terms of work and ensure that you both are on the same page. Moreover, freelancers can also provide you with instant support whenever you need.

Pros of Freelancer WordPress developer

Delivery on demand:

If you are ready to pay extra, your work will be considered in the prior list and delivered on your demand.

Charge for what you need:

Charge only for the work you need and save yourself from the hidden costs.

Flexible:

Freelancers are very flexible when it comes to availability as they can work based on your preferences.

Range of options to choose:

You have plenty of options in choosing freelancers whether you require a low-budget or an expensive freelancer.

Cons of Freelance WordPress developer

Pay hour charges may empty your pocket:

Freelancers ask for hourly charges that may empty your pocket.

Work delay due to lack of resources:

Freelancers work individually, and they usually lack resources that impact negatively work delivery.

Pay more attention to money:

Freelancers work for the sack of money most of the time which can force you to think whether it’s worth a penny or not.

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Website Design Agency and Freelance WordPress Developer.

1) How do I know if I need a WordPress website design agency or freelance WordPress developer for my project?

Firstly, decide the requirements of people to work on your WordPress project. If you need a larger team, you should hire a WordPress design agency like Creole Studios. And hire freelancers for compact requirements.

2) If I decide to work with a WordPress website design agency, how do I find the right one for me?

Great if you have decided to work with a WordPress website design agency. Now, all you need to keep in mind is that agencies have a dedicated development team with the right skills and provide support through various methodologies such as Scrum, Agile, and Waterfall.

3) If I decide to work with a freelance WordPress developer, how do I find the right one for me?

If you want to hire a freelance WordPress developer, you have to explore different sources and take interviews to select the best that suits your requirements.

4) If I go with the freelance WordPress developer route, how do I make sure I get quality work?

You have to ask certain questions to your freelance WordPress developer before on boarding. Ask about work structure, tools & technologies, and time to ensure quality work.

5) How much will it cost to hire a WordPress website design agency or freelance WordPress developer?

If you hire a WordPress website design agency like Creole Studios, we will initially provide you with a project discussion. After that, when you finalize work requirements with our project manager, you will get an idea about the cost. Hence, We aren’t promoting hidden assumptions.

Conclusion – The Best Option

It’s not easy as pie to pick one and make the final choice. Considering your project goals, you should choose a freelance WordPress developer and WordPress website design agency that suits your requirements and helps you build a better website. Usually, Agencies have more experience building websites that stand out in the market and drive value. Hire WordPress design agencies like Creole Studios to develop your customized website and establish a strong digital presence.

(Original Source: https://www.creolestudios.com/wordpress-website-design-agency-vs-freelance-wordpress-developers/ )

WHY SHOULD YOUR BUSINESS INVEST IN A CUSTOM WORDPRESS WEBSITE DESIGN?

Do you know that a good website design creates a good image of your website in your audience? Custom WordPress website design is one of the most crucial factors in delivering a seamless user experience. Here are the advantages of custom website design for your new or pre-built WordPress website.

Since we live in a tech-savvy world, businesses must maintain a robust virtual presence achieved through a website. However, cut-throat competition made people realize that a simple website might not draw the desired traffic. This led them to undertake customization, and what better CMS to rely on than Custom WordPress website design? 

WordPress is highly customizable, and with custom WordPress development, you can personalize the website based on your business needs. If you want your business website to get the necessary attention from your target audiences, you must pace your way toward custom WordPress website design and development. A tailor-made website can significantly improve the user experience by catering to their requirements in the most functional way possible. 

But can your business benefit from a custom WordPress website design? Is it going to be worth the investment? Let us answer your questions by discussing its distinct benefits. 

What is Responsive Website Design?

Creating a responsive website is one of the most crucial aspects of upholding a positive user experience. 

But what is a responsive website design, and why is it important? 

Responsive web design is an approach that facilitates website development and design along the lines of the user’s behavior based on the screen size and platform. This process uses CSS media queries, flexible grids, and layouts to respond to the user’s preference. 

In other words, a responsive website automatically accommodates the platform’s image size, resolution, and overall layout. 

The need for a responsive website design is at an all-time high due to the high dependence on smartphones. According to Statista, the number of smartphone users reached 301.65 million in 2022 in the United States of America, and this number is projected to reach 311.53 million in 2025. 

Businesses find it wise to create a responsive website to acclimate to such a high smartphone user base. 

What is a Custom Website?

There are two ways to build a website. Either you can use the premade templates and layouts to build a website. Or, you can build from scratch, starting right from the coding process. 

While the former provides layouts, colors, and font options, it might limit the overall creativity and efficiency of the website. On the other hand, custom-built websites do not have such constraints. You can alter the functionalities and appearance of the website as per the business requirements. 

Website customization services entail a bunch of facilities, right from hosting to lead tracking or analytics and maintenance. 

Why should you invest in a custom and responsive web design?

Custom web development brings varying benefits to the table. The following reasonings will help you understand those advantages:

Make your website stand out.

As of March 2022, there are 1.93 billion websites online. Now it can be difficult for your website to get the limelight if it has a generic layout and appearance. But with custom web design, your website will look unique and professional, which will help in generating a positive first impression. 

Customized themes and plugins enhance the existing appearance and efficiency of the website, something that will instantly catch your user’s eye. 

Create a responsive website 

Since custom web development contains responsive web design, your users will be able to access your website through any platform- be it their smartphones, tablets, or PCs. Such convenience helps build a positive brand image and credibility.

Create an authentic and credible impression 

The authenticity and distinctiveness of a custom WordPress website can create a long-lasting positive first impression. It will attract the attention of your target user base to help you qualify more leads and make your website a preferred choice amongst the competitors. 

Flexible and Adaptable 

Flexibility and quick adaptability are some salient features of custom web design. Since it allows the WordPress website to be customized to the most minute details, it helps you build a flexible and fully personalized website. 

Reach increased

Creating a customized website that meets the user’s requirements in terms of functionality, efficiency, and accessibility helps build a brand identity. This can be leveraged to increase the overall reach and traffic. 

Secure and Faster 

Since custom web development involves building a website from scratch, the result is safer. Not only are the themes, plugins, and core built with safe codes, but such a practice also makes the website faster. 

Moreover, since custom web design only adds the necessary plugins and functionalities, it makes it easier for you, as the website owner, to edit elements in the future. 

Read More: HOW TO ADD TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION TO PROTECT YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE?

Makes website search engine friendly 

Making a website search engine friendly is not a cakewalk. You will have to optimize the HTML and CSS per SEO rules. But such undertakings will not be necessary with custom web design as it will be designed as per the SEO norms from the very beginning. This will give your WordPress website a headstart when it comes to getting a higher rank on the SERP. 

Read More: WHY SHOULD YOU CONVERT YOUR HTML WEBSITE INTO A WORDPRESS THEME

Cost-effectiveness 

Every penny spent on custom WordPress design is profitable as such an elaborate process can draw potential customers to your website. In a way, custom WordPress development must not be considered an expense but rather an investment. 

More leads and conversions 

Generic websites can be hit-and-miss since the users might simply skip the website and move on to the next best one. However, with custom web design, you can retain the attention of your users and visitors with customized themes, plugins, and a visually appealing layout. 

Additionally, since a customized website is SEO-optimized, it allows your business to reach the target audience to increase conversion rates and lead to more revenue. 

Build your customized responsive WordPress website today 

Investing in custom web development can seem overwhelming at first. However, your business will eventually reap the benefits in the long run. Not only is this option cost-effective, but it takes your business to a whole new level of success, brand recognition, and profitability. 

If you are planning to build a custom and responsive web design for your business, the dedicated WordPress developers at Creole Studios can lend a hand. With our years of experience and expertise in custom WordPress development, you will receive the best website design that meets your business’ vision!

Source: Why your Business should invest in WordPress website Design