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As with any item, the more you the look after it the better it will perform and usually the longer it will last. This is the same for computers, and not many people realise it. When you buy a new computer it will have the latest versions of software installed, be free from viruses and have most of the memory available. After a few months or years it is very easy for a computer to become full of files that aren’t needed, updates to be missed and lack in security. All of these issues can cause your computer to run slow, crash or stop working and be vulnerable to hackers or identity thieves.

Once a month you should take the time to back up all of the important files on your computer, run a full system scan disk and also defrag your computer. When we delete or modify a bit of software or a file often there are elements that are left behind that are not easily noticeable. Carrying out a PC clean up can remove these unwanted files, free up more space and help your computer to run better. Defragging your computer will help speed up the process of reading files that are written on the hard drive by placing the appropriate files next to each other.

Pay per Click marketing can be an extremely successful way to gain business for your company. More or less anyone can set up a Pay per Click campaign but creating an effective and cost effective one is a different matter. Pay per Click software such as Google Adwords can be quite complex and there are so many settings within it that if not set up correctly, you could find all your daily budget used up very quickly with very little success.

You need to ensure that you are reaching a wide audience but also that you are reaching out to the right audience. There is no point in advertising a product or service that you do not sell to simply get traffic to your site as this will end up causing more harm than good an causing an increase in bounce rate. This increase can then mean you have to pay more money to be at the top of the sponsored links.

Being a website programmer can be a fun job. Often the job changes day by day and you will be faced with new challenges. As technology improves and advances, there will be new programming techniques that come out that will make certain jobs easier, more secure or just offer new functionality.

As a programmer you need to stay in the loop of the world of the web to ensure that you know how to implement these new coding techniques. The best way to do this is to follow a number of sites that release information about programming and to attend meet ups that are often run by software of social media companies.

Coding is a vital part of running a successful website and testing is key. Whenever you add any new functionality or make changes to code on a website it is really important to test the site thoroughly.

When having a website created you need to consider not only functionality but how it will look on the screen (or in fact a number of different types of screen). Some things to consider are colour ways, positioning of logo and strap line, positioning of the main navigation and how it will function, photos and call to actions.

Knowing what works on a website can be hard for the inexperienced but if you work with a design agency or web designer then they will be able to advise you what works and from their experience what doesn’t.

Most design agencies will give you a number of visuals that you can look through and make a decision as to which one you like. You should also be able to combine a bit of two or more visuals to create the one that you feel would be best suited to your business/ company.

If you have a website you will probably be well aware of the importance of getting traffic to your website. There is no point in having a great looking and functioning website if you cannot get anyone to visit it. This is where web marketing comes in. There are a number of ways in which you can improve the presence of the website on the search engines. Web marketing is often outsourced to a third party or looked after by a dedicated department within the company.

Once you have traffic to your site you need to then convert it in to sales. It may be that you have an ecommerce website so people will actually complete the sale on your site, or you may want the site to gain you inquiries. Being able to convert the traffic will rely on a number of factors such as price, reputation / customer service of the company, quality of the product and availability / range of products. To assess whether you are falling short of converting visitors you need to analyse all of the above in detail and make sure that you are on par with your competitors.

The job of a computer programmer can be fantastic. You may have the excitement of new tasks on a daily or weekly basis, can see the work you have created and how it is assisting other businesses to grow and will most likely be on a decent wage.

When looking for work as a computer programmer you can of course go self-employed, but if you want a bit more certainty, then you may opt for an employed job. When looking for a computer programmer job to apply for it is important that you find a bit out about the company. It may be that you want to be able to have flexibility in the programming and use new and exciting methods. Some companies will have very strict policies on how you can program where as others will give you more freedom, if this is important to you then be sure to check before accepting a job.

Some programmers also like to design too, some agencies will like to use a programmer who can do both even if you are not always doing the designs, its handy to have someone that can. Be sure to mention this on your cover letter and again in your interview.

If your website was built over twelve months ago then it may be worth having some of the code updated. There are new techniques coming out every day when it comes to coding and often these new techniques are more secure as well as improve page loading times etc.

If you use a content management system such as WordPress you can quite easily update it through the admin panel, but be sure to take a full back of the site prior to doing this. Even if you update the content management system, you may still need to update other parts of the code that are not changed during the WordPress. Some code and site updates may cause other issues within your website, for this reason you should be sure to thoroughly check your site once you have completed any updates to make sure that everything is functioning as it should.

When you build a new website it is vital to carry out certain checks before setting it live. If there are bugs on your website then customers will find it frustrating and may leave the site without completing on a sale (for ecommerce sites) or contacting you (if it is a lead generation website).
It may be that you need more than one person to test a website, as if you have programmed the site or been heavily involved in the design of the site then you may skip over things and miss them.
When testing a site make sure that it not only works as it should but that it is secure. Passing prices through to the checkout or basket in the URL string is a big no no and if a customer can change this information then they can end up purchasing something for any price they want to.
If you find an issue with the site, correct it and then always check it again to make sure that the fix has worked as it should.

Many websites contain broken links. These are links that when clicked on either do nothing or go to a page not found error. These types of links often referred to as 404 or dead links can be very detrimental to a website and its performance. Not only are they viewed as bad in the eyes of the search engines such as Google, but they can also put off visitors to the site and make them leave before they have found what they were looking for.

It may be that when your site first goes live all the links are working as they should, but over time, if you are adding, removing or moving content/products/images etc. these links may stop working. There are many free programs that you can run on your site to find any broken links. Once you have these speak to your website programmer and decide if they need to be removed or redirected to somewhere else.

As with almost anything we buy or use, overtime it becomes outdated and there is often a need to upgrade. This is the same when it comes to websites. You may have had a website designed a few years ago and at the time it did exactly what you and your customers needed it to. Over time technology advances and what a consumer is looking for can change so therefore you may need to update your website to reflect this.

Sometimes businesses require online calculators or live chat areas adding, for example. Adding functionality can be tricky on a live site, so always make sure that you have a recent back up of the site before any changes are made. You should also try and implement any changes on a test version of the site prior to setting it live to iron out any creases that may occur during the process.