As we have had some questions come in regarding this change, we wanted to issue a brief explanation of how this might affect our customers. For a little background, PayPal is changing their standards on what SSL certs they will accept connections from. PayPal states: “It is important to note that these changes are to address industry-wide security issues and are not unique to PayPal. When implemented, they will improve the privacy and reliability of your PayPal integrations.”

BCS Engineering is in full support of these changes. The recent upgrades to SSL on our hosted environments should address any concerns for customers who host with us. Any hosted sites should also be using the correct certs at this point.

For customers who host elsewhere and purchase SSL certificates through us, we have been changing customers away from the problematic 1024-bit certificates to the more secure 2048-bit certificates as renewals come up. If however, you have purchased a longer term 1024-bit certificate that has not expired before these changes were standard, we can re-issue an appropriate cert for an installation fee. Also, if your site is hosted elsewhere, it is possible your host may need to update your server to ensure compliance with these changes.

To read the full statement from PayPal, click here.

In the process of designing or redesigning a website, it is possible for very important aspects of this process to get overlooked. Whether this ends up happening due to a focus on design, a lack of attention to content, or to not having a good grasp on a site’s audience, the results can be disastrous. This article from webdesignerdepot.com asks the experts in such fields as SEO, content, and marketing on ways to avoid neglecting important parts in the website designing process.

One of the tips I am particularly fond of in this article came from Mickie Kennedy, founder and president of eReleases:

“A long time ago in a cyberspace far, far away, web design meant the use of frames, repeating backgrounds, blinking text, and auto-playing MIDI files. Chasing the next cool thing could have you trying to erase the modern day equivalent of parachute pants and fanny packs from your portfolio in just a few years. Design with an eye on the present while looking forward.”

This is particularly important advice. Most of these items were found unsightly or annoying by a lot of users (definitely by myself), but it is certain clients of web designers were asking for them merely because these items were the fad at the time. In this regard, it is much more important to be attuned with what your site’s audience expects from your site, as opposed to what lots of other websites might be doing.

Also in the webdesignerdepot.com article, is this tip from Josh Currier of Currier Marketing:

“Many small business owners look within their own industries for design ideas, and/or have some preconceived idea of what is most important in a web design. Often, they get stuck on one or a couple specific features they really like, but may actually have no real value to their customers/audience. The dilemma is that simply delivering what they want doesn’t always produce the results that are needed.

“Facilitating a conversation about the purpose of the website, ie. to act as a brochure, a lead generation device, a content platform, etc. helps educate your prospect (the business owner/decision maker), establishes you as the expert (helps to eliminate price shopping/commoditization of your services), and steers the conversation from what they want, to what they need in terms of a web design.”

This keeps in line with the previous quotation in that often what people want and their reasons for wanting it, are not compatible with the most desirable goal – which is an optimally performing and converting website. Before any items are changed or added to a site, it is important to make sure the changes are being made in a way the end user will react to in a positive manner. I suggest reading the full article here for more tips on web design.

While it might be written off by some as a new trend, mega-sized images seem to be getting results for sites that utilize them. As a person who uses the internet, I have noticed the shift to larger images taking hold on several popular sites. Personally, I find these larger images to be more aesthetically pleasing, even if it does not result in me making unplanned purchases. However, I would likely imagine that people who are browsing or are undecided about a purchase might be easily swayed by these larger images.

This article from webdesignerdepot.com presents several case studies to show how larger images can have a positive impact on conversions. However, this article should come with the caveat that these are case studies. There does not seem to be any solidly compiled statistics to show larger images will always work. However, I would argue that once larger companies establish a trend, consumers come to expect (and respond to) similar things from other companies.

One example given by webdesignerdepot.com of a site with mega-images is McDonald’s. I strangely found myself clicking on the below image to see what McDonald’s is up to with its marketing these days. I would largely say this was due to the mega-sized image and the overall aesthetic appeal of the page.

In closing, I would venture that larger images would help most sites with their conversions. The things to be cognizant of are your brand, your product, and ultimately your particular image. The best thing to do would be to test any changes image by image to see what works best for your site. To read the full webdesignerdepot.com article, click here.