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Buying a computer can be tricky business as you may not know what specification you need, but do know what you need it to be able to do. You can go to a computer specialist show and discuss with them, but you need to know that they have the correct knowledge in order to be able to trust what they say. The best way to avoid disappointment is to carry out some research yourself. For example, if you are looking for a PC that is predominately going to be used for gaming them you will need one that is fast. This means that you need one with a good processor. There are quite a few different types of processors out there, but you should be able to compare the speeds to see which Pc or laptop offers you the best for your money.

You may not always need to buy a new PC, you may just be able to upgrade your old one. This is a little harder with laptops but can be done.

A content management system allows someone to go in to the backend of a website and make changes. These changes often include adding new content or changing existing content, adding products or services that can be purchased, creating new users, extracting data from a newsletter sign up for example and making structural or layout changes to the website.

IF the content management system falls in to the wrong hands it can have catastrophic results. Your website content could be changed to include harmful links, misrepresentations or even deleted entirely. If accessed it could also mean that sensitive data such as customer email address, phone numbers and postal addresses are accessed and then sold on.

It is vital therefore, to ensure that your CMS is as secure as you can make it at all times. If using an off the shelf CMS system this often meaning carrying out regular issued updates and making sure that the link to your database is secure. If you are using a bespoke system then the programmer who is responsible for the maintenance of the software will need to go in and update the areas for you.

A website programmer is not required by law to have any qualifications, but some companies do ask applicants to have some sort of qualification. Many programmers are self-taught or learn on the job as this is often the best way to pick up programming techniques and skills.

You can chose to do a computer programming course at college or university which will teach you a good overview of many different programming languages. If you continue on to become a web developer then you may find that you only ever program in one particular language anyway so this is not always necessary.

Some web developers know little in depth programming and get by, by using code already created or by using open source software such as WordPress with can be edited quite easily. If you want a website created that is quite bespoke and requires complex functionality then you will need to find a programmer who is very experienced in that particular programming language and can write code from scratch.

Once you have had a website designed and programmed, it can be easy to leave it for a long time as it all appears to be working. Not only is this a bad idea in terms of search engine optimisation and marketing but also in terms of website security.

With cyber-attacks on the increase it is vital to make sure that your website is up to date in terms of any code and software used. If you use a bespoke content management system for your site, then the web developer who created the site for you will need to ensure they update the code as and when required. If you use an “off the shelf” content management system then you may be responsible for doing this yourself. WordPress for example, is an open source content management system and updating it can be a fairly easy. Once logged in to the dashboard it will notify you that an update is available. If someone has developed the website for you it is always worth asking them if you are ok to carry out the update, as if they have made changes to the template, these may be lost during an update. It is also recommended to take a full back up of the site prior to doing any updates.

Most websites have some sort of CMS (Content Management System) attached to them to allow change to be made to the site by a member of staff that may not be fluent in computer programming. Most companies want a website build that does what they asked for but then will want to ability to add new products / news articles and case studies etc. and this is all done through a CMS system. Even if a customer does not require access to the backend of the website, it is worthwhile building one in from the start as should they change their mind, it can be a lot harder to add it in afterwards.

There are many different types of CMS systems all varying in cost and functionality. Some programmers even develop their own CMS system to allow them complete control over what they can add in to it and the access they can give uses etc.

Websites, like most things, can get stagnant and there often comes a time when you need to have a complete overhaul of your current site. Some companies chose to do this in stages and improve sections of the site bit at a time, but when doing this you must take extra care to ensure that the site doesn’t look disjointed and that all the elements still work correctly with each other as they should do.

Conversion rate is often a reason why many businesses decide to update their website. It may be that the search engine optimisation element is working as it should and you are getting a lot of traffic to your site, but that traffic is not converting.

With new websites starting up every day it is vital to stay on top of your game and make sure that you have as much functionality in the site as needed. Comparing your website to your competitors can help you see why other people would chose them over you and you may be able to take some information from this to improve your own site.

If you have a website you will probably be paying some one for hosting. A hosting fee is essentially where you rent space on a server to keep the files for your site. It is where all the traffic will be directed through and it is essential that it is reliable to avoid your website going off line, getting hacked, being able to cope with the traffic and that adequate backups are taken.

Cloud hosting has been around for a number of years now, but only more recently have many companies started to move their website and indeed other software they use in to the cloud.

Some of the advantages of cloud hosting are:

• The software hosted on the cloud server can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection meaning you can take your intranet system out and about with you.
• The bandwidth can change as your requirements for space change. If for example you have moderate traffic and then have a sale on and need to accommodate more, then the cloud server will automatically adapt to what you need.

If you are looking to move your existing website to a new hosting or web programming company then you will need to have the cooperation from your existing supplier to do so. Each website has a number of files that will be stored on a server by the hosting company. Most websites also have a MySQL database which holds the information that is stored on each page or product on your site.

You may have a content management system that allows you to log in and make changes to your site and this will either be an off the shelf one or one that is bespoke and has been designed by your supplier. If the website uses an off the shelf system it is usually fairly easy to migrate it to a new supplier as long as you can get access to the files and database. If the website uses a bespoke CMS system then you may need to format the data to allow it to be uploaded in to a new CMS program.

Many companies start off with a basic brochure type website and then once they have started getting in enough business, look to upgrading their site to an ecommerce one.

An ecommerce site allows the visitor to purchase a product or service online and pay for it through a payment gateway. There are many payment gateways but the popular ones are Sage, Worldpay and PayPal.

If you are considering doing this then speak to a website programmer who will be able to let you know the pros and cons for most of them and which will be the best option for your site. Some of the payment gateways are more complex to integrate which means will cost more upfront but allow more flexibility which may be useful in the near future. If you chose a simpler method, you may find that a few months down the line you need to start again with a new payment gateway integration.

If you are a web developer working from home, you will realise the importance of having a static IP address. An IP address is a unique string of numbers separated by full stops that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network.

If you require access to a server or someone else computer you may need to give them your IP address to add to their firewall. This is the barrier that tries to stop unauthorised uses from accessing their data.

If you do not have a static IP address then you may find that it changes regularly and therefore you have to keep requesting for your IP to be added again. This can be frustrating for both parties and can cause time delays.

Some companies will only allow you to have a static IP address if you upgrade to a business account whereas others will charge you a fixed fee per month for one.