Here at Cognique, we are big fans of the WordPress content management system. It is simple and easy to use, yet has the framework available for enhancements allowing the core features to be built upon to create very complex websites. However the world of WordPress ecommerce has always been a bit of a grey area.  We have evaluated many e-commerce plugins over the years, including WP eCommerce, MarketPress and JigoShop. However we have never found a solution we felt was a true competitor to the d...

Since we published this article in November 2015, things have moved on considerably. Read our latest blog on the subject for a more accurate answer: Is 2017 the time to go HTTPS with an SSL certificate? Last year in our blog we wrote about how Google were starting to prioritise secure websites (https) over unsecure websites (http) in search rankings. This was part of Google’s wider campaign for https to be used everywhere, and for all information on the web to be transmitted securely. Since ...

Google Search Console (previously called Google Webmaster Tools) has always been an essential tool for search marketing, but it became more important after the introduction of "not provided" search terms in Google Analytics in 2011.This move marked a big change in the world of search engine optimisation as previously search engine success could be precisely measured, right down to the number of click-throughs and conversions from individual search terms. Although not a replacement for detailed...

Have you thought about what you’ll send to your clients and contacts this Christmas yet? It’s an annual conundrum - should you send a card, email, present or something else entirely? To help, we’ve compiled some of the best ways to spread goodwill that won't break the bank.Support a good cause Supporting a good cause is always nice at Christmas. You could make a charitable donation instead of sending cards and let your contacts know via email. Or maybe try a variation on one of these ide...

Bobbie Burns has been a household name for furniture in Bristol since 1929 when the business was owned by the founder Bobbie Burns. Recently the brand has been revitalised by its new owner South West Upholstery with ‘The Bobbie Burns Collection’ in honour of the respected gentleman. As well as selling one-off pieces of retro furniture, they also offer a bespoke furniture range where customers can build their own sofas and chairs online, and then the furniture is made from scratch in t...

Precision engineering company M-CNC was founded in 2011 by experienced engineer, Mark Wylde. When the business was launched Cognique worked with Mark to develop M-CNC’s corporate identity, as well as designing and building the company's first website. Five years on, the company has gone from strength to strength. With more staff and significantly bigger clients, M-CNC felt they had outgrown their current website. They needed an updated site to reflect their increased expertise and inspire co...

As I write this there are only 90 days to go until Christmas. So is your ecommerce business ready? The Christmas period offers a massive opportunity for online shops, with more people shopping online than ever before. In the UK last year (2014), 40% of Christmas shopping was done online, with £21.6bn spent on ecommerce websites in the eight weeks leading up to Christmas and a further £810 million spent online on Black Friday alone (Source: IMRG e-Retail Sales Index).To make the most of th...

GA Helliar and Son have been providing reliable and professional commercial cleaning services to businesses throughout Somerset and Dorset since 1932. As well as cleaning, they also offer a pest control service which up until now was an extra section on their existing cleaning website. They soon realised that the two just don't go together, so they approached us with a simple brief: to create a stand-alone WordPress website for Helliar Pest Control to separate the two businesses.The WordPre...

To find out if your website stats are already being affected by referrer spam please read our blog post Is referrer spam affecting your website metrics? Many websites are hosted on web servers that use .htaccess files to control how the server should behave in response to specific requests. The .htaccess file is found in the root of your site directory and can be accessed either by FTP, SSH or web admin control panel such as cPanel. There are two possible methods to block referrer spam to your ...

There are a number of WordPress plugins designed to block referrer spam from accessing your website and affecting your analytics data. To find out if your website is affected read our earlier blog post Is referrer spam affecting your website metrics? You can find instructions on how to block referrer spam with WordPress below: The following instructions assume you are familiar with both WordPress and installing plugins. We cannot be held responsible for any detrimental effects and we do not pro...

The most effective way to block ghost referrer spam from accessing your website and affecting your analytics data is to set up a custom filter directly in your Google Anaytics account. To find out if your website is affected read our blog post Is referrer spam affecting your website metrics?Set up a View in Google Analytics Before you can begin to use any of the techniques below we recommend setting up an additional view in Google Analytics. The benefit of views is that you can see the effect...

If you are a serious business owner or marketer you probably use Google Analytics or another web analytics solution to help you to measure the results of your investment in marketing. However you may have noticed some strange changes in your metrics lately, including:A large increase in recorded traffic A reduction in your average page views per visit Decreased visit duration Higher bounce rate (visits to a single page)One possible cause could be the recent huge upsurge in referre...

Not all marketing activity is successful. In our experience there are four main reasons why marketing fails: 1. It wasn't targeted enough There are too many people in the world to target everyone, plus it’s impossible to have universal appeal. Consequently, an un-targeted “spray and pray” approach rarely gets results. 2. It used the wrong channels It can be easy to get sucked into using a channel that doesn’t fit your customer base. For example advertising on a website that isn’t a...

How often have you received marketing communications that were of no interest to you whatsoever? Fairly often, we’d guess. The most common marketing mistake made by businesses is to throw away money on marketing their product or service to people who will never be interested in it. Everyone is not your customer Everyone is not your customer, and the sooner this becomes the mantra behind your marketing campaigns, the better. The most successful marketing campaigns target a specific audience....

It’s always a good idea to set up web analytics and measure how your business is doing properly, but here are three easy website marketing checks that you can do without opening up any analytics programs. They will give you a valuable insight into how well you are doing online and what other people see when they look at your business on the internet. 1. Where do you rank for your business name? Google your business name - ideally, your website should be number one. If you are not at the top...

Growing your business through marketing will require an investment - this could be your time, the time of your staff or budget to outsource your marketing activity. The option that is right for your business depends on the expertise of you and your team, and your ambitions for growth. Outsourcing isn’t right for every business but it could be beneficial for you if:You are planning for growth Outsourcing is particularly useful for businesses looking to grow as it provides more scalability and...