Help our staff help refugee children! - http://gplus.ly/1KcJy7F

Over the past few weeks we have all witnessed the heart breaking images of the current refugee crisis. It’s at times like these we find ourselves watching the television, wondering to ourselves “is there anything I can do to help?”.

The staff at 34SP.com love nothing more than helping people, so they have decided to organise a fundraising event, to raise money for children currently caught up in the biggest refugee crisis since World War 2.

As a result, this weekend 34SP.com staff will be running a 24 hour game-a-thon. 34SP.com staff will be playing computer games non-stop for 24 hours, starting at midnight on Friday and continuing until midnight on Saturday. The whole event will be broadcast live on streaming site Twitch.

Sales Account Manager, Siobhan McMinn, who has organised the event said “We’re all very much looking forward to raising money by doing something we all love, playing computer games. We don’t expect to solve this awful situation, but even the smallest donation can make a significant difference to people's lives. That is the inspiration behind this fundraising event.”

All the money raise will be donated to Unicef’s ’Syria Children Appeal’ and we will be matching donations raised by our staff's fundraising efforts.

Learn how you can help: http://gplus.ly/1KcJy7F

#unicef #syria #syrianrefugees #syriacrisis  

7 Great Reasons to Keep Your Website Updated
It is good practice to update your website and is part and parcel of running a website. This applies both to adding new content and to the way your website is built. Your website is your responsibility to look after and if nurtured you can reap the benefits! Here are 7 great reasons to get on board!

1. Security

It may not be the most interesting point but it’s certainly the most important. Websites get hacked on a daily basis, some are taken care of quickly, others can be exploited for months, even years without you knowing.

Internet security is constantly changing and you may think "it won’t happen to me". It will. Weak sites can be exploited for a number of reasons. They can be used for spamming or advertising things you wouldn't necessarily want to advertise on your website. Every day new loopholes are found and taken care of, which is why it is important to make sure your website coding is looked after.

2. SEO

There are many mystical factors of search engine optimisation – SEO, noone other than Google’s algorithm designers know the precise details of how Google renders its search rankings. If we did we could take advantage of it.

Having an up-to-date website benefits your website security and ranking. Google searches for relevant content – and fresh relevant content is smiled upon. Having content that is considered useful to Google helps them find you through the billions of websites it indexes for every search.

3. Networking

We all network in different ways. Most websites take advantage of social networking. I, like many others, prefer to build relationships by meeting socially, at conferences and events. With this in mind, think how it would be to hand out business cards for website that had the most recently updated article from 2010. It wouldn’t give the right impression and that first website visit counts.

4. Responsive Web Design

Websites are quite different now than they were a few years ago. With the advancement of technology, the likelihood that your website will be used on a desktop computer is falling, whilst mobile apps and tablets are rising.

It is important that your website not only looks good on all desktop and mobile devices, but it works well too! The most basic factors such as screen resolution and navigation differ on each device. If your website is not optimised for these devices there is a strong possibility that your website may not even display.

5. Communication

For many people websites are seen as ways of connecting with a company. Gone are the days where we regularly pick up the phone to businesses and ask about products or recommendations, or even ask about credibility. Visitors like to do online research to see whether you are worth making further contact with. It’s important to recognise this in today’s market.

A website buzzing with activity is the main goal, providing many ways to get in touch or simply developing a community of customers out of it.

I personally like to read online reviews before I buy products. If I do have an important decision to make on a company I will most likely look them up first. Word of mouth is bigger and better than it has ever been and it’s growing. With the help of social media and websites like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Amazon – customers talk and recommend freely.

6. Draw Attention

Updating your website will draw attention to it. Not only from regular return visitors but search engines too. You can create a new look or change it every so often. Adding new images, text and meta data for search engines could be a very good way to go.

7. Tracking Your Performance

A website is a very valuable tool, if used to all its advantages. Updating your website with new items can tell you a lot about your customers as well. Attracting traffic is key and your ‘updates’ can tell you a lot about the data you are posting and whether it is popular among your customers. This can help you discover successful sales campaigns, buying patterns, the possibilities are endless.

Read the full article: http://gplus.ly/16a3B5w

Do you have additional reasons to keep your website updated to add to our list? We would love to hear from you!

#website #onlinemarketing #business #seo   

Anyone here attending WordCamp London March 20-22nd?
#WCLDN #WordCamp #WordCampEurope