Building your own website has become immensely easier. This is thanks to multiple tools and modern techniques which help in regards to that topic.
Is Depending on Tools Enough to Build a Trust-worthy Website?
As a matter of fact, Tools have made it much easier and more available for anyone to build a website. But as a side effect, you now have to understand those tools, compare between them and choose the most suitable tool for your website and your needs.
That’s why, before hurrying and starting to build your website, you need to stop and think in order to strategize for that step. Planning makes your website work more efficiently and meet your needs as well as the needs of your website’s visitors, which can be potential customers.
What Does a Website Consist of?
The process of planning and building your website includes understanding the main components of a website. Understanding these elements and knowing the method that you use helps you know which tools you should use, in order for your website to work perfectly.
A website consists of two main parts: Things that are visible to your website’s visitors and things that are invisible to them which work in the background and you can control. In the case of building a website, you need both parts for your website to work efficiently. And when the website starts to work, both parts work in harmony.
- Domain
The domain is the title of the website which people write in the URL bar which is present at the top of the browser in order to visit your website. Simply put: if your website is a house, then the domain is its address. For example WWW.YourWebsiteName.com
- Web Hosting
Every website includes a group of files and folders in the background. And these files need to be stored somewhere, in order to use web hosting. You need to have a trust-worthy hosting service, since it can affect the performance of your website in many ways.
A bad hosting service can lead to your website regularly breaking down which in turn, leads to an unpleasant experience for the visitor. A good web hosting service is an essential thing in order to ensure that your website works effectively.
- Content management system (CMS)
When you first visit any website, you’ll find a group of webpages, articles, some pictures, etc. The one that controls all these elements and the way it’s displayed is CMS.
Your CMS works behind the scenes, in order to help you organize parts of your website and maintain them. It also facilitates the visits of your readers.
There are plenty of content management systems. And one of the most popular and easy-to-use CMS is WordPress.
This is because it includes many templates, themes, and tools you can easily use as you build your website. You also don’t need to be a programmer or know how to use HTML in order to use WordPress.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Optimizing your website in order for it to rank higher on search engines is a must! With the presence of millions of websites on the internet, competing in order to rank higher, you need to know some of the basics, and follow them in order to rank higher on search engines, which makes it easier for visitors to find your website.
- Analytical Tools
What cannot be measured, cannot be improved. You need to know how people ended up on your website, and what kinds of pages do they spend most of their time on.
Google Analytics is considered to be one of the most popular and easiest tools to use as well as being completely free to use. It can also be used along with WordPress and other website building tools.
- Inventory Management
If your website specializes in E-commerce, you need to make sure to keep track of what you have in your inventory; what sells and what’s needed. This service tends to be merged with the payment method and the online store. In order for both you and your customers to know whether a product is in stock or not.
- A Template Suitable to Appear on Mobile Devices
Your website is going to need a good appearance on various screens: mobile phones, tablets and PCs alike. And especially smartphones.
Choose a good template for mobile devices, which also needs to be responsive in order to make your website load faster and be easy to read and navigate through. All that, so you can offer a great experience to your visitors.
After knowing the main components of building a website, are there any other elements you need to know in order to build a good website?
If you think that protecting your website, customers or your visitors against piracy is an important aspect, then the answer to the previous question is yes, there are other important elements that you need to know in order to build a trust-worthy website.
What are those additional elements?
Let’s get a little off topic for a second, so we could talk about how to build the programs and tools which are used to build your website. As well as the licenses that you need to get in order to be able to use such software. And how using such softwares affects our website.
In regards to programs, there are two kinds: Open-source software and closed source software. The difference between the two is that the coding of the first one is available for the coder to modify and correct, as well as develop it.
The crucial type for us is the open-source software, why is it important for us in this article?
Going back to the 3rd element of building your website, we find that we’ve talked about WordPress. We’ve mentioned that WordPress is the most popular and easiest to lose in order to manage your content.
WordPress is one of the examples of open-source software, which means the developers can get to the code as well as edit it.
The license under which the WordPress software is released is called GPLv2 (or more updated) from Free Software Foundation. GPL is a license that allows you to use software, which has been published by Richard Stallman. This license states that any developer who uses GNU to develop software, this software has to be free to use.
Stallman also published many other free softwares, but GPL is the most prominent. Since it’s the most broadly used licenses in the programming world. GPL is a free software license, contrary to popular belief. The word ‘free’ in programming doesn’t mean free of charge. But that the software is open to be edited and distributed (or any derivative works).
GPL isn’t only used for WordPress, but also on tools and plugins that can be added by programmers into WordPress, in order to make it easier to use.
What’s the Importance of GPL In Developing Software?
- The freedom of using the software for any purpose.
- The freedom of studying how the software was made, and altering it
- The freedom of redistributing its copies in order to help others.
- The freedom of upgrading the software, and releasing updates (and all updated versions in general) to the public.
So, What’s the Relation Between Free Software and Protection Against Piracy?
The relation between free software and piracy leads to two main principles. One of which is GPL, which we’ve already discussed above. The other one is Nulled.
Despite the great moral goal and the benefits that free software has, there are some people who take advantage of such benefits and use it for piracy and putting your website in danger.
But no worries, there are plenty of ways to protect your website, which we’re going to go through in this article. However, before going more in-depth, let’s first answer the question: What is Nulled? And what are its disadvantages?
WordPress itself is safe to use, since you can’t cause any harm to it. But the nulled process happens within the tools and plugins inside WordPress. Since we’ve explained that free software is open sourced. Which means that others are able to reach the coding of the software and edit it.
This is where piracy takes place. Since some individuals buy the tools from the company, then start to edit the code in a way to harm the user. Like adding harmful files to the code of the program. And then this individual redistributes this program to others.
These files can have many dangers. For instance: spying on your website and getting to the data and important information of your users. You’ll also be unable to get the updates for the software.
Companies often update their software in order to fix any problems in its previous versions. But since you didn’t buy the software directly from the source, you won’t be getting the update, which puts your website in danger.
You also won’t be getting any extra privileges which have been added to the software. Since such privileges are added to the original software which is edited by the original company and not the version that you’ve purchased.
Such files also affect the way you appear on search engines. Since they add files to your website which Google regards as harmful. And thus, punished you and doesn’t allow you to rank high in its search results.
Why Does the User Resort to Nulled Software, and Is There a Better Option?
These versions are usually cheaper than the original version which the company sells. So, the user resorts to it in order to save money. But as a side effect, this user is faced with multiple dangers which can lead to completely losing their website.
In regards to alternatives, there are a plethora of them! For example free versions which companies release. As well as trial versions. Since there are trial versions that are dictated by a certain amount of time. That way, you can use the software and make sure it’s the right fit for you before you buy it.