Tag: Website Development

The Future of WordPress: Is Your Website Ready for 2025 and Beyond?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

WordPress dominates the web, powering over 43% of all websites globally. Its open-source nature, flexibility, and ease of use have made it a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. However, this widespread adoption comes with its own set of challenges. Maintaining a WordPress website can be a complex endeavor, demanding ongoing attention to security, performance, and updates.

Security breaches remain a significant concern, with reports indicating that WordPress sites are a prime target for attackers, facing thousands of attacks per day. And slow loading times, which plague around 53% of mobile website users, can lead to significant revenue loss. Furthermore, experts predict that in 2025, the focus will shift even more towards Core Web Vitals and user experience, making performance optimization crucial for businesses to stay competitive. Plugin conflicts, compatibility issues, and the constant need for updates further complicate the WordPress experience for many businesses.

Navigating these complexities requires specialized expertise, and that’s where a trusted partner can make all the difference. As an experienced offshore software development company specializing in WordPress, Galaxy Weblinks understands the intricacies of this platform and the challenges businesses face. We offer comprehensive solutions to help you navigate the complexities of WordPress, ensuring your website remains secure, performs optimally, and drives business growth.

These challenges, while common, shouldn’t hold your business back. WordPress remains a powerful and versatile platform, but navigating its intricacies requires a proactive approach. Let’s break down the most prevalent WordPress pain points, explore their potential impact on your business, and discover how to overcome them effectively.

Unmasking the WordPress Headaches: Specific Challenges Businesses Face 

While WordPress offers unparalleled flexibility and ease of use, it’s not without its challenges. Understanding these potential pitfalls is crucial for any business relying on WordPress to power its online presence. Let’s delve into the specific headaches that often plague WordPress websites:

Security Vulnerabilities: Beyond the Hype

WordPress, being the most popular CMS on the web, is a prime target for attackers. While the core software is generally secure, vulnerabilities often arise from outdated plugins, weak passwords, and misconfigured settings. Did you know that in 2023, over 18 million WordPress sites were infected with malware? (Source: Sucuri Website Threat Research Report 2023) This highlights the importance of proactive security measures.

In 2022, a vulnerability in the popular “WooCommerce Payments” plugin, which is used by millions of online stores, exposed sensitive customer data, including credit card information. This incident prompted WooCommerce to issue an urgent update, urging users to patch their systems immediately. (Source: BleepingComputer)

Beyond the common threats, WordPress sites are also susceptible to more sophisticated attacks like SQL injections, cross-site scripting (XSS), and brute-force attacks. These can compromise sensitive data, disrupt website functionality, and damage your brand reputation.

Performance Bottlenecks: More Than Just Slow Loading

Slow loading times are a major frustration for website visitors and a significant detriment to your SEO efforts. Google’s Core Web Vitals emphasize the importance of speed, with studies showing that even a one-second delay in page load time can lead to a 7% reduction in conversions. (Source: Portent)

A case study by Google highlighted how Mobify, a mobile commerce platform provider, improved its website’s performance by reducing page load time from 6.9 seconds to 1.7 seconds. This resulted in a 43% increase in session duration and a 30% increase in conversions. (Source: Google Developers)

But performance issues go beyond just slow loading. Large image sizes, unoptimized databases, and excessive plugins can all contribute to a sluggish website. For instance, a website with over 50 active plugins may experience significant performance degradation, especially if some of those plugins are poorly coded or outdated. A 2024 study by WP Engine found that websites with optimized databases loaded up to 2x faster than those with unoptimized databases. (Source: WP Engine) Identifying and addressing these bottlenecks is crucial for delivering a positive user experience and maximizing your website’s potential.

The Plugin Paradox: Essential Yet Problematic

Plugins are the lifeblood of WordPress, extending its functionality and enabling a wide range of features. However, managing plugins can be a double-edged sword. Compatibility issues, conflicts between plugins, and security risks associated with poorly coded plugins can create headaches for website owners.

In 2023, a vulnerability in the “Essential Addons for Elementor” plugin, which had over 1 million active installations, allowed attackers to take over websites and redirect visitors to malicious pages. This incident highlighted the importance of carefully vetting plugins and choosing those from reputable developers with a strong security track record. (Source: Patchstack)

Furthermore, “plugin bloat” – having too many active plugins – can significantly impact website performance and create security vulnerabilities. A study by Wordfence found that 30% of WordPress vulnerabilities are related to plugins. (Source: Wordfence) Choosing and managing plugins wisely is essential for a smooth and secure WordPress experience.

Maintenance Mayhem: The Hidden Costs of WordPress

WordPress requires ongoing maintenance to ensure its security, performance, and functionality. Regular updates, backups, and troubleshooting are essential tasks that often get overlooked. Neglecting these can lead to security breaches, data loss, and website downtime, resulting in significant costs and frustration.

In 2021, the popular travel website “Nomadic Matt” experienced a significant outage due to a server crash. The website was down for several hours, resulting in lost revenue and frustrated users. This incident emphasized the importance of regular backups and disaster recovery plans. (Source: Search Engine Journal)

Staying on top of WordPress maintenance can be time-consuming and require technical expertise. This is where partnering with a specialized provider can alleviate the burden and ensure your website remains in top shape.

The Talent Gap: Finding Reliable WordPress Expertise

Finding and hiring skilled WordPress developers can be a challenge. The demand for WordPress expertise often outstrips the supply, making it difficult to find reliable and experienced professionals.

A recent survey by Upwork found that the average hourly rate for a WordPress developer with 3+ years of experience is $75-$150 per hour. This high cost can be a barrier for many small businesses seeking to hire in-house developers. (Source: Upwork)

Moreover, ongoing support and maintenance require a dedicated team with the necessary skills and knowledge. According to a 2023 report by W3Techs, over 55% of WordPress websites are running outdated versions, making them vulnerable to attacks. (Source: W3Techs) Outsourcing these tasks to a specialized provider can provide access to a pool of talent and ensure your website receives the attention it deserves.

Rescuing Your WordPress Website: How Galaxy Weblinks Provides Expert Solutions

Navigating the complexities of WordPress can be a daunting task, but you don’t have to go it alone. Galaxy Weblinks offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to address the challenges we’ve discussed and ensure your WordPress website thrives.

Emergency WordPress Rescue

When your WordPress website faces a critical issue – a sudden crash, a security breach, or a debilitating error – every minute of downtime can cost you revenue and damage your reputation. Galaxy Weblinks understands the urgency of these situations and provides rapid response emergency rescue services.

For example, if your website suddenly goes offline due to a server failure, our team can quickly diagnose the root cause, whether it’s a database error, a plugin conflict, or a DDoS attack. We’ll implement a temporary fix to get you back online within the hour and then work on a permanent solution to prevent recurrence.

Ultimately, this ensures business continuity and protects your brand reputation, even when unexpected issues arise.

Proactive Security Hardening and 24/7 Monitoring

Security is paramount in today’s digital landscape, and your WordPress website is a prime target for attackers. Galaxy Weblinks takes a proactive approach to security, going beyond basic measures to safeguard your website and data.

We don’t just install security plugins and call it a day. Our security experts perform in-depth audits to identify vulnerabilities in your themes and plugins, implement two-factor authentication and strong password policies, and configure firewalls to block malicious traffic. We also monitor your website 24/7 for suspicious activity, such as login attempts from unknown IP addresses or unauthorized file changes.

With Galaxy Weblinks as your security partner, you gain peace of mind knowing your website and customer data are shielded by a team of dedicated professionals.

Performance Optimization for Superior User Experience

Website speed is critical for user engagement and SEO. Slow loading times can frustrate visitors and negatively impact your search rankings. Galaxy Weblinks understands the importance of performance optimization and employs advanced techniques to ensure your website loads lightning-fast.

We go beyond basic image optimization. Our team analyzes your website’s database queries, identifies slow-loading plugins, and optimizes your server configuration for maximum efficiency. We also implement caching strategies and content delivery networks (CDNs) to reduce server load and deliver content faster to users around the world.

For example, we recently helped an e-commerce client reduce their website’s average loading time from 5 seconds to under 2 seconds, resulting in a 15% increase in conversions and a significant boost in their search engine rankings.

By optimizing your website’s performance, you can enhance user satisfaction, boost your SEO, and ultimately drive more conversions and revenue.

Custom Development and Seamless Integrations

Your business is unique, and your website should be too. Galaxy Weblinks offers custom WordPress development services to extend your website’s functionality and meet your specific needs.

Whether you need a custom theme that reflects your brand identity, a plugin that automates a specific task, or integration with a third-party service like CRM or marketing automation, our team of experienced developers can build a solution tailored to your requirements.

This empowers you with a website that not only looks great but also functions seamlessly to support your unique business processes and goals.

Strategic Consulting for Informed Decision-Making

Making informed decisions about your WordPress website can be challenging, especially with the constantly evolving landscape of technology and best practices. Galaxy Weblinks provides expert consulting services to guide you through the process.

Our experienced consultants can help you evaluate your current website, identify areas for improvement, and recommend the best solutions for your specific needs and budget. Whether you’re considering migrating to a new platform, implementing a headless CMS strategy, or simply optimizing your existing website, we can provide the guidance and support you need to make informed decisions.

With our strategic guidance, you can confidently navigate the complexities of WordPress and make choices that align with your business objectives.

Comprehensive WordPress Support and Maintenance

Maintaining a WordPress website requires ongoing effort and technical expertise. Galaxy Weblinks offers comprehensive support and maintenance services to take the burden off your shoulders.

Our team can handle all aspects of website maintenance, including regular updates, security monitoring, performance optimization, and backups. We also provide proactive troubleshooting to identify and resolve issues before they impact your website’s functionality or user experience.

This allows you to focus your valuable time and resources on your core business activities, knowing that your website is in capable hands.

Seamless Migration and Platform Diversification

If you’re considering moving away from WordPress or want to diversify your digital presence, Galaxy Weblinks can assist with seamless migrations to other CMS platforms like Drupal or Joomla, or even to custom-built solutions.

Our team has extensive experience in migrating websites from various platforms to WordPress and vice versa. We ensure a smooth transition, minimizing downtime and preserving your valuable content and SEO rankings.

We can also help you implement a headless CMS strategy or integrate other platforms to enhance your online capabilities. This opens up new possibilities for your digital presence, allowing you to explore alternative platforms and expand your online reach without the technical headaches.

Custom Plugin Development and Troubleshooting

Plugins are essential for extending WordPress functionality, but they can also cause conflicts, security vulnerabilities, and performance issues. Galaxy Weblinks offers custom plugin development and troubleshooting services to address these challenges.

If you need a plugin that doesn’t exist or are facing issues with existing plugins, our team can develop custom solutions or provide expert troubleshooting to resolve conflicts and ensure your website functions seamlessly.

By leveraging our plugin expertise, you can unlock the full potential of WordPress without the worries of plugin conflicts or security risks.

Grow Your Business with a Strong WordPress Foundation

Imagine this: You’re no longer constantly worried about your WordPress website. Instead, you have a reliable online platform that supports your business growth and allows you to focus on what you do best. This is the peace of mind that comes with partnering with Galaxy Weblinks.

We’re more than just a fix-it service. We become an extension of your team, providing the expertise and support you need to maximize your online presence.

Here’s how partnering with Galaxy Weblinks can give you a unique advantage:

  • Unwavering Focus on Your Core Business: We understand that your time is valuable. That’s why we assign dedicated project managers who act as a single point of contact, handling all communication and coordination so you can focus on your core business goals. For example, we recently helped a client, a busy e-commerce store owner, increase their sales by 15% by taking full responsibility for their website maintenance, security, and updates, freeing them to focus on marketing and customer service.
  • Access to a Global Team of WordPress Experts: Our team comprises highly skilled WordPress developers, designers, and security professionals with an average of 5+ years of experience and proven expertise in diverse areas like WooCommerce development, performance optimization, and custom plugin development. We carefully vet each team member to ensure they meet our high standards of quality and expertise.
  • Cost-Effective Solutions Without Compromising Quality: Our offshore development model allows us to offer high-quality services at significantly lower costs compared to hiring in-house developers or working with local agencies. We are committed to transparent pricing and offer flexible engagement models to suit your budget and needs.
  • Proactive Problem-Solving and Strategic Guidance: We don’t just wait for problems to arise; we actively prevent them. We use advanced monitoring tools to detect potential issues before they impact your website, conduct regular security audits to identify vulnerabilities, and provide proactive recommendations to optimize your website’s performance and security.
  • A True Partnership Built on Trust and Collaboration: We believe in building long-term relationships with our clients based on trust and mutual success. We foster open communication, provide regular progress updates, and actively seek your feedback to ensure we’re aligned with your goals. Our client testimonials and case studies speak volumes about our commitment to collaborative partnerships.

Take control of your WordPress website. Get a website audit from Galaxy Weblinks and uncover hidden performance bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and opportunities for optimization. Our expert analysis will provide you with actionable insights to improve your website’s performance, security, and user experience.

Is headless e-commerce really the future?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

The e-commerce sector has made tremendous strides. There was a time when eCommerce platforms were designed mainly for desktop users. Cut to the present, customers can purchase products using various devices such as wearable tech, smartphones, social media platforms, etc. The idea behind the evolution is simple: customers who engage with brands across multiple platforms tend to make more purchases.

The market’s ever-changing needs have given rise to new e-commerce approaches in recent years. Earlier methods focused on back-end configurations, but the need for personalized, customized, and engaging omnichannel experiences has prompted the development of a new e-commerce design approach – the headless commerce approach.

Headless e-commerce has gained significant popularity among digital brands, and in the last couple of years, investors have invested heavily in this domain, with over $1.6 billion being poured into such opportunities. Numerous startups and established players in the e-commerce industry have introduced new technologies or products to leverage this trend to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded digital marketplace

Companies are increasingly adopting headless e-commerce as it offers more flexibility, scalability, and customization than traditional e-commerce platforms. In this blog, we will explore whether headless e-commerce is the future of online retail, looking at the benefits of this approach, statistics on its adoption, and examples of businesses that have successfully implemented headless e-commerce.

Is headless e-commerce really the future?

What is headless e-commerce?

Traditionally, e-commerce platforms have been built using a monolithic architecture, meaning the front and back ends are tightly coupled. This can limit the flexibility and customization of the user interface. Headless e-commerce, on the other hand, separates the front and back ends, allowing businesses greater control over the user experience.

In a headless e-commerce architecture, the front end is decoupled from the backend, meaning businesses can use any front-end technology they want. This allows for a more customized and flexible user experience. The backend, responsible for managing the business logic and data, is usually built using an API-driven approach, enabling the platform to communicate with any front-end technology.

Successful businesses that leveraged the benefits of headless e-commerce

Many businesses have already adopted a headless e-commerce approach, with some seeing significant improvements in their online shopping experiences. Here are some examples:

👟 Nike: Leveraged headless to optimize every aspect of their website to suit small-screen interactions, including visuals and call-to-actions. They utilized React SPA and Node.js backend for frontend (BFF) to ensure consistent user experiences across all pages. As a result, Nike gradually gained market share and became a leading player, surpassing their competitor Adidas.

🧼 Lush: Handmade cosmetics became even more accessible thanks to Lush’s faster, more intuitive mobile app with personalized recommendations and real-time inventory updates.

🎯Target: The retailer faced stiff competition from retail giants like Walmart and Amazon, with customers frequently switching between brands. Through thorough analysis, they discovered that almost 80% of their customers begin their buyer’s journey on one device but finished it on another. To capitalize on this opportunity for growth, Target adopted a headless commerce approach to unify the customer buying journey across various devices. As a result, Target experienced an increase in its site’s conversion rate as more users found it easier to finish their purchases with the new unified experience.

📎Staples: The UK-based office supplies behemoth grappled with a massive product catalog that was often siloed and required frequent updates, depending on inventory and promotions. Adopting headless architecture allowed them to update their product catalog quickly and efficiently, and to optimize their website for various functions. They can now offer features such as registering/login in, ordering by item number, or reordering previously purchased items, significantly enhancing their customers’ shopping experience.

💄Lancôme: The French luxury perfumes and cosmetics powerhouse and one of the world’s most valuable brands made the switch to Progressive Web Applications. The decision paid off, with Lancôme seeing a 17% boost in their conversion rate. The headless approach made it much more convenient for their target audience to purchase items even while on the move.

Why is headless e-commerce gaining popularity?

There are several reasons why headless e-commerce is gaining popularity among businesses. Here are some of the key benefits:

Flexibility: Headless e-commerce allows businesses to use any front-end technology they want, which means they can easily customize the user experience to meet their specific needs.

Speed: Because the front and back ends are decoupled, developers can work on them simultaneously, speeding up the development process.

Scalability: Headless e-commerce is more scalable than traditional e-commerce platforms, allowing businesses to add new features and functionality without impacting the user experience.

Integration: Headless e-commerce is designed to work with other systems, making integrating with other technologies easier.

Future-proofing: Headless e-commerce is future-proof, as businesses can easily swap out the front-end technology as new ones emerge.

Headless e-commerce trends 

There is a growing trend towards headless e-commerce, with more businesses adopting this approach. According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the headless e-commerce market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.5% between 2021 and 2026. The report also notes that North America is expected to be the largest market for headless e-commerce during this period.

Another report by Digital Commerce 360 found that 43% of e-commerce decision-makers are planning to adopt a headless approach in the next two years. This indicates that headless e-commerce is becoming more popular among businesses as they look for ways to improve the customer experience and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

A report by MarketsandMarkets predicts that the global headless commerce market size is expected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2020 to $3.5 billion by 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.8% during the forecast period. The report notes that the adoption of headless commerce is increasing due to the growing demand for a personalized customer experience, the need for omnichannel marketing, and the increasing focus on improving customer engagement.

A report by Acquia found that 77% of organizations plan to adopt a headless approach within the following year. The report notes that headless commerce offers greater flexibility, scalability, and customization, which is particularly important for businesses looking to provide a differentiated customer experience.

Digital Commerce 360 found that 43% of e-commerce decision-makers plan to adopt a headless approach in the next two years. The report notes that headless commerce is becoming more popular among businesses as they look for ways to improve the customer experience and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

A survey by BigCommerce found that 76% of e-commerce businesses plan to invest in headless commerce in the next two years. The survey notes that headless commerce is a way to differentiate from competitors, enabling companies to offer a more personalized, seamless, and engaging customer experience.

So, is headless e-commerce really the future?

Yes, headless e-commerce is the future of online retail, as it offers a more flexible, customizable, and scalable approach to e-commerce. Decoupling the front and back ends enables businesses to use any front-end technology they prefer, allowing for a more personalized and intuitive user experience. This flexibility, coupled with the speed and scalability of headless e-commerce, makes it an attractive option for businesses looking to improve their online shopping experiences and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. With the headless e-commerce market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.5% between 2021 and 2026 and an increasing number of businesses planning to adopt a headless approach in the next two years, it seems that headless e-commerce is set to become the future of e-commerce. 

Want help with adopting headless for your business? Let’s talk. We can help.

Unlocking E-Commerce Success: 05 Essential E-Commerce Conversion Rate Optimization Tips

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Whether you are considering beginning an e-commerce business or already have one, some actions must be taken before launching your e-commerce website to ensure its success. One influential aspect of your e-commerce business is conversions. All online stores work diligently to increase their conversion rates. Every team knows how difficult it is to raise the e-commerce conversion rate by even a tiny percentage. 

Low conversion rates are sometimes the only thing keeping your company from achieving a certain level of success. Marketing initiatives that emphasize conversion rates are more effective than those that do not. 

Data from Outgrow. co show that companies typically spend 92 USD to acquire customers but just 1 USD to convert them. Therefore, it should be easy to believe that just 22% of firms are convinced of the return on their investment from conversion rates.

According to e-commerce Guide, e-commerce currently accounts for almost all retail growth in the US, which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. That should be enough reason for you to put your business at the forefront with cutting-edge technology via the best-optimized website and user experience. 

How Is CRO Beneficial to the Business?

The unifying objective of all marketing initiatives is to improve results. Furthermore, the pursuit of innovation and development must be continuous to seize growth possibilities, regardless of the KPIs used to gauge the effectiveness of these processes.

Therefore, when addressing how to focus the lead or visitor’s attention and guide them to a specific action on the website, focusing on approaches such as CRO Marketing or Conversion Rate Optimization is beneficial.

While increasing e-commerce conversion rates is the primary goal of CRO, it also has the following extra benefits:

  • CRO enhances the user’s experience. By removing obstacles, you streamline and hasten the consumer experience. It therefore benefits your business’s bottom line and its standing in search engine results pages (SERPs).
  • CRO uncovers marketing possibilities: CRO identifies marketing opportunities that were previously prohibitively expensive, helping them to get a large number of new consumers.
  • CRO Adds Business Momentum: It boosts your capacity to spend money cost-effectively and helps you obtain more value out of every dollar invested. Momentum is crucial for recruiting further investment, so it also has that secondary advantage.
  • CRO uncovers your target audience: Since CRO calls for ongoing research and hypothesis testing, it provides a thorough insight of the target audience.

05 E-Commerce Conversion Rate Optimization Tips

01- Use high-quality images and videos on your product pages

According to MIT research, the human brain can process a picture in only 13 milliseconds, giving your customers a quick first impression of your brand and goods caliber. According to research by Shopify, only 0.52 percent of customers prefer to see a single product photo, 33.16 percent like to see many shots, and almost 60 percent prefer images that allow them to get a 360-degree perspective of the product.

When someone purchases anything online, high-quality photos & videos clearly show them what they will receive. They give an overview of texture, shape, shades, etc. Additionally, they assist customers in understanding the product’s size and the variety of its uses.

Key Takeaway- It’s no secret that visual marketing is crucial for developing a brand online. High-quality visual content, such as product photos, can make or break an e-commerce brand’s online visibility and consumer experience. Your images must provide information and help the consumer distinguish between various products. 

02- Be competitively priced.

When it comes to price, consider not just the product you’re trying to sell online but also the value it provides and your e-commerce USP. A company must first conduct some research to determine the pricing using a competitor-based strategy.

You must conduct market research on your competitors offering products that are incredibly similar to or identical to yours to develop this pricing plan for your online business. This should include high-end and low-cost retailers to give you a thorough market overview.

Let’s imagine you run a business selling sports footwear and looking forward to adding new designs. Even if the sports shoes cost you $20 to manufacture and advertise, the average cost for a sports shoe is $40. You can start your pricing slightly over the market average of $45, giving you a $25 profit.

Key Takeaway: The cost-based strategy is extended by e-commerce market-based pricing strategies that take into account your niche competitors. This is crucial if your products are identical to or highly comparable to those offered by other online retailers, allowing buyers to compare prices.

03- Clear navigation menus

Homepage navigation is one design feature that gains from familiarity and convention. However, many design website navigation as a last-minute addition after considering pages and content. In a recent poll, just 50% of internet users could anticipate where relevant content will rely on typical page navigation.

Users want to save time figuring out complicated, almost buried menus and strange iconography. The use of a traditional navigation structure improves usability. Navigation is made more efficient by placing the most crucial pieces in well-known places.

Key Takeaway: A simple navigation menu makes it easier for customers to understand your website’s many product categories. You must categorize your products using generic terms. For instance, a yoga brand can categorize its product line into “Bestsellers,” “Women’s,” “Men’s,” “Maternity,” and “Sale.”

04- 3-30-3 rule for creating content

In today’s fast-paced environment, capturing a potential customer’s attention can be challenging, even if your content is excellently crafted and highly relevant. The “3-30-3” formula can help you create content that engages readers and has an impact. The 3-30-3 rule lasts three seconds, thirty seconds, and three minutes.

  • 3 seconds- This implies that you have just three seconds to convince a website user that they are looking for the right product and are in the right place. Ensuring your title is intriguing, compelling, and grabs the reader’s attention is crucial.
  • 30 seconds- You only have 30 seconds to make your pitch after a visitor has chosen that your website is the best place for them to be. Therefore, your product introduction and opening H2 ought to be excellent. At this stage, you should grab their attention with eye-catching industry figures, quotations, or a fact that sets your product apart from the competition.
  • 3 minutes- At this point, users start to show a desire to understand more about your products. You must now choose what will convert the best for you, whether a short story, a demo, a client review, or infographics.

Key Takeaway: 

The “3-30-3” rule states that you have only three seconds to get a reader’s attention, thirty seconds to keep them engaged, and around three minutes for them to read the entire content. Here, it’s crucial to succinctly explain what they will gain by reading your content and how it will impact them.

05- Maximize the Mobile Experience

According to Statista, 93% of Millennials have used a mobile device to compare online deals, while 82% of Internet users in the United States have used a mobile device to shop online. Furthermore, Marketing Land says mobile app conversion rates are three times greater than mobile website conversion rates.

Businesses that have adapted to the popularity of mobile experiences in e-commerce are reaping the benefits in a very diverse business environment, while those that still need to commit to this area are inevitably losing out on a growing segment of the customer base.

A mobile-optimized website will automatically alter its size to accommodate different screen types, depending on the device used to view it. A non-responsive website will not display correctly on all devices, interfering with the user experience. This is particularly damaging for online stores as it could increase bounce rates and worse conversion rates.

Key takeaway:  With direct communication with customers, the mobile experience gives away an opportunity to reach a broader range of customers and access valuable customer data. All it requires is to create a mobile experience with a slick appearance, fluid operation, and everything in its proper place.

Final Thoughts

E-commerce has become a crucial component of the global retail landscape in recent years. As modern life is increasingly digitized, online shopping has become essential for retail and e-commerce businesses. A well-designed website that checks all the above-listed points is necessary for immediate and long-term success.

As boosting e-commerce conversion rates should be the number one priority for businesses, Galaxy Weblinks can offer more specialized solutions with streamlined processes that drive growth and encourage customers to do what is most important, buy your products. To continue serving your people, you must be ready to make the next move. If you need us to help you with anything related to e-commerce website/app design and development, contact us! We’re happy to help.

9 Steps to Ensure High Speed of WordPress Website

Posted on by galaxy-admin

WordPress powers more than 40% of the web today. WordPress is powered by thousands of different plugins, themes, and technologies and all of these have to coexist. Things can quickly turn into a nightmare for regular WordPress developers here when the website gives them trouble and they can’t identify the problem area. 

The speed of the website is of the utmost importance and remains a top priority regardless of the nature, size, and function of the website. In every technical audit, an improvement in website speed is given weightage. Poor page loading is a big turn-off for users, as well as a factor that drives them away. 

User experience, content, SEO, mobile-responsiveness, etc are a few of the elements that make a successful website. However, website speed has become more and more important over time. The 4gs and 5gs have made consumers impatient. Even if a website is fractionally slow, they would move on to something else. 

A study from Microsoft Corp. says people are generally losing concentration after eight seconds. It is an effect of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.

The fact that visitors are mostly using mobile devices, often having a slower data connection than computers exacerbates the problem further. 

As a result, WordPress website owners are hard-pressed to make their websites fast. But, this demands a lot of technical knowledge.

Here we attempt to guide you in speeding up your website step by step. 

First Up – Backup

The process of speeding up a WordPress website may cause you to lose data and other important components of the website. To that end, always make a backup to restore in case of a mishap. A fresh backup can go back to how things were before. The first step will always be downloading both website files and the database. Do it manually or via a plugin, whatever is convenient to you.

Let’s get to the steps… 

Step One – Damage Assessment 

Post backup, it is time to see how the site’s current performance is in terms of page speed. Then follows the before/after comparison. If you have before/after data, you can draw the comparison and check if your actions made any difference. Some of the commonly used tools are – Pingdom, GTmetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights.

Plugging the URL into these sites to see the site’s performance. These testing tools will provide inputs on how the speed of the page can be improved. The recommendations will look like this:

  • Enable compression
  • Leverage browser caching
  • Reduce HTTP requests
  • Eliminate JavaScript and CSS above the fold
  • Optimize images
  • Minify CSS and JavaScript
  • Reduce server response time

Step Two – Eliminating Unnecessary Plugins and Themes

There are always some plugins on the site that are not useful or have outlived the initial purpose. These plugins put an extra, unnecessary burden on the site, increasing the loading time. HTTP requests can slow a site down, so log in and sort through the plugin list. Disable plugins that are not in use and also stop by the theme menu to see if there is anything that isn’t needed.

Step Three – Run Plugin Performance Profiler

With Performance Profiler, plugin performance can be scanned, pinpointing the ones slowing down the WordPress website.

Step Four – Update!

Upgrading WordPress, themes, and plugins gives you access to the latest features and also lets you take advantage of speed improvements. Proper up-gradation of each element constructing the website is necessary.

Step Five – Optimization of the Database

Data optimization can be done using plugins like WP-Optimize. It helps you remove the data overhead from database tables and unnecessary entries such as old post revisions and more.

Step Six – Image Optimization

Images often make up the bulk of any webpage, especially if they are completely composed of visuals. For that reason, we optimize images as much as possible. 

Step Seven – Enable Compression

Next, zip up the files to make them smaller so that browsers need less time to download and present them on the screen.

Step Eight – Turn on Browser Caching

Enabling browser caching basically means telling the browsers of visitors to store parts of the site on their hard drive for a quick future load. This way, resources that aren’t likely to change, can be reused next time.

Step Nine – Minify and Concatenate

Using plugins like Autoptimize to reduce the number of HTTP requests made by the browser by minifying and concatenating the CSS and JavaScript files.

About Galaxy Weblinks 

Galaxy Weblinks is your one-stop solution for WordPress solutions, We offer a complete range of IT services including WordPress development and WordPress optimization. Contact us now for the complete WordPress solutions.

Craft CMS: Building the frontend of a website using Twig and GraphQL

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Craft is a mature and tested content management system. Airbnb, W3C, Netflix, PBS, Salesforce, Moz, and countless other brands switched to Craft CMS for redesigning their websites. That for sure proves its credibility against other popular CMSs.

You can use Craft to design and develop complex and intuitive sites that rely heavily on PHP, databases, and query optimizations. However, you can also use Craft to design and develop simple sites where you do none of those things.

Craft CMS has ditched the traditional CMS systems that come with ready-to-go page templates, CSS frameworks, and pre-built themes. As a result, developers have a bespoke solution to build tier solutions. Craft CMS neither offers posts or pages or any bootstrap features and themes to build the frontend.

Craft CMS supports two distinctly different ways of building a front end:

Monolithic: building Twig templates for server-generated pages.

Headless: using a GraphQL API in combination with a separate front end codebase.

But before diving into these two frontend approaches, let’s find out what web developers, designers, and stakeholders love about Craft CMS.

Why Craft is a choice of many front-enders and website projects?

Both web designers and developers find Craft CMS features incredibly useful. Before installing any plugins, the options and functions developers have to work with are impressive. Here is a partial list of features and the reasons why Craft is preferred more for which many other CMSs require plugins:

  • It allows content managers to custom page layout building and preview updates in real-time.
  • One can manage all of their brand sites under one roof, whether it’s a multi-site, multilingual, or both. This is a major problem area with the majority of other CMSs.
  • With virtually no learning curve, the UI of the Craft control panel is very intuitive.
  • Craft is fast for the front end as well as the Control Panel and tops the many reasons for choosing a modern CMS over an older one.
  • Robust sitewide content indexing and search capabilities.
  • Robust custom fields for full control over your design and content.
  • Nearly all content is in one place: Entries. Editors love this and can easily find what they’re looking for.
  • Fine-grained user permissions and group management allow publishing workflows across different departments and individuals. And no, you don’t need a plugin for this.

Building frontend with Craft CMS using Twig templates

Twig is a template engine for PHP so instead of writing PHP you write in this simple Twig syntax.

Some developers are not keen on this, but Craft uses Twig as its template engine. The word “use” should be highlighted as a requirement, as there is no option of writing raw PHP anywhere inside the template.

It is standardized in a way that, when you look at your team’s Pull Requests, you probably don’t expect to see 100 lines of custom PHP that make no sense. You only see the code related to templates.

Apart from this, Twig makes it easy to “component-ize” your elements. This way you define the markup and layout for a component once, then reuse it throughout your site and pass variables.

You can define components for different content modules like image left, image right, headings, cards, etc. This ensures you’re consistent, reuse the same components throughout the site, and reduce duplicate code.

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Here’s how to use GraphQL + Craft CMS as a ​“head­less” CMS

Let’s say you’re not digging Twig or you would rather use one of the latest technologies (hello static site generators!). Craft’s templating system isn’t the only way to get content out of Craft. As of Craft 3.3, it provides a “headless” mode and GraphQL built-in with Craft’s Pro features.

That means you can use tools like Gatsby or Gridsome to build static sites with the comfort of Craft CMS. That brings Craft in line with the likes of WordPress that provides its REST API for fetching content to use somewhere else.

As a web devel­op­er, you’d use GraphQL if you were writ­ing a fron­tend that is sep­a­rate from the back­end. You’d be using Craft CMS as a ​“head­less” CMS for its excel­lent con­tent author­ing experience.

Per­haps you’re writ­ing the fron­tend in a frame­work like Svelte, Vue.js, React, or one of the frame­works that lay­ers on top of them like Grid­some, Gats­by, Nuxt.js, or Next.js. You could write a cus­tom API for Craft CMS using the Ele­ment API, but that can be a sig­nif­i­cant amount of work, and you’ll end up with some­thing bou­tique, rather than an indus­try standard.

This is where GraphQL for Craft CMS excels. By cre­at­ing your con­tent mod­els in Craft CMS, you auto­mat­i­cal­ly get a GraphQL API to access it, with no extra work on your part.

Conclusion

Craft abstracts all the field creation and setup to the admin panel. You only need to point it to the right Twig template and then use the fields you connected. Furthermore, it provides localization and multi-site management out of the box with no need for plugins.

The bottom line is Craft is an open-source, modern, affordable CMS with stellar security and first-party support. The features and flexibility it offers out of the box, along with its content-first approach, make it go-to for nearly every custom web project.

About Galaxy Weblinks:

We are your offshore CMS development partner! We offer expert capabilities in developing feature-rich solutions using the latest CMS technology trends. We have hands-on experience in CMS solutions like Craft, WordPress, Drupal for different business needs. We offer assistance from building custom CMS websites to website migration and maintenance processes.

ACF vs Visual Composer website builder: Which is better?

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Building a WordPress website? The WordPress community provides you with plenty of options. You can either make an easy one using WordPress themes or a custom one using website builders. A website builder is the most convenient way to make a personalised website. WordPress community provides you with a ton of free and paid builders as per your needs and levels of expertise. Once you make up your mind on what you plan to do with your website, then you can chalk-out the structure and the elements that you’re going to need for the website to function. After locking in your requirements, you can choose your website builder. We recommend using two of our recent favorites.
  • ACF
  • Visual Composer

ACF

Image Source: advancedcustomfields.com

The interface of the Advanced Custom Fields is simple. It lets you create dynamic fields for individual elements of your website. Installation and activation of ACF adds Custom Fields to your WordPress dashboard. From the Custom Fields menu you can take full control of your edit screen & custom field data. The minimalistic interface of ACF can be mistaken for an under equipped website builder. You can make some of the most complex and powerful websites with ACF. The best thing about ACF’s interface is that it doesn’t try to overwhelm you. It only shows the functions that you need. ACF gives you the full control of your website right from header to footer. You can build individual elements of your website with custom fields. There are 25+ different field types to choose from, vis-a-vis. text, image, gallery and WYSIWYG editor. These fields are dynamic. You can use them to give your client an easy way to update their website according to their liking.

Visual Composer

Image Source: visualcomposer.io

It has a clean and modern interface which allows you to make basic layouts with ease. The interface lets you work on different elements of the website, right then and there. Visual Composer has a floating window which pops up every time you’re trying to add or edit an element. The window is movable and resizable, you can place it anywhere if it’s obstructing your view. Visual Composer gives you the best of both worlds with its backend and frontend editor. While building, you can easily choose from the ready-made layouts of landing page, call to action page, feature list, description page, service list or a product page. Adding elements in the website is also easy with the element window. The drag and drop visuals come at a cost of short codes. Migrating to another website builder or uninstalling Visual Composer leaves short codes in the content, rendering it unreadable. Fixing these short codes is an another chore on its own.

Which one do we prefer over another, you ask?

Well it’s a tough choice but…ACF! ACF and Visual Composer are serving two different audiences. ACF is focused on developers. Visual Composer on the other hand targets the people with little to no knowledge of website development. In case of both the builders. the audiences don’t need to have an extensive coding knowledge. Visual Composer focuses on making the website building experience as easy as it can be. Visual Composer is not made for complex websites it will only provide you with enough elements to get your website up and running.

Why ACF?

ACF does a commendable job with its active development and incredible support. The developers are constantly working to keep the plugin current. The heavily themed interface of Visual Composer is slow. The floating window takes time to load the elements, and the builder shows glitches when you switch from frontend to backend. Visual Composer is affordable for personal license but expensive for client work. ‘Advanced Custom Fields’ is more affordable and provides value for money. Another thing that doesn’t work in Visual Composer’s favor is that the pre-sales service and overall support for Visual Composer is terrible. It comes as no surprise that ACF has 900,000+ active installations compared to Visual Composer’s 500,000+. You can save your time and money with theme-based websites but you might not get the exact thing you’re looking for. Themes are designed keeping a universal requirement in mind. Your unique requirement might not fit in those templates everytime. But, if you have unique requirements and want the best for your website, then website builder is the right bid. Making custom websites is a hectic process. We can make that process easier. Our expert development team knows website builders like the back of their hands. Hit us up here if you’re looking for WordPress development partners.