Today, having a company website is as crucial as having a phone number. Prospects, candidates, and clients expect companies with whom they do business to provide online content about their services. These audiences want to access information about your services and links to online review platforms such as Google in order to understand the company they are dealing with. A comprehensive website should include several key elements: security, easy navigation, compatibility with all mobile devices, search engine optimization (SEO) for keyword visibility, and the ability to add or modify content. Features like graphics, links, email forms, 'Call Me Now' buttons, and 'Call to Action' buttons leading to fillable forms are also vital, particularly for small businesses.

Most companies today often opt for the lowest-priced offer when getting a website developed for their business. However, they often overlook the importance of understanding the type of website they're actually investing in. With the rapid expansion of the free open-source community, there's an abundance of free website options available, including WordPress. Many companies are drawn to WordPress due to its cost-effectiveness, open-source nature, and ease of setup. It's an ideal platform for beginners looking to create blogs or small websites.

Nevertheless, as projects evolve beyond their initial stages, users may come to realize that working with WordPress can be challenging without specific skills. In essence, you need to be a PHP developer (or hire one) to modify various functional and cosmetic elements of the platform. Capable and qualified PHP developers typically charge hourly rates ranging from $61 to $80 on average, and it takes an average of 6 to 10 hours to assemble a basic WordPress website. Consequently, many web designers and design firms often recommend WordPress and pre-made templates to their clients.

WordPress stands as the most popular CMS (Content Management System), offering the capability to create, edit, and publish website content. Currently, it powers nearly 75 million websites worldwide. The platform is open-source and freely available. However, unless you're tech-savvy, you might require a web designer to construct the website and establish your access to the CMS. Web designers charge for these services.

Because many web designers utilize pre-made templates and WordPress plugins, it becomes easier for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities and gain access to your website content. The open-source nature of WordPress makes it susceptible to security breaches and data leaks. Recently, millions of websites fell victim to an attack that led to the alteration and removal of website content. Some even had derogatory content injected onto their company pages, which is not suitable for their customers and clients. These breaches were a result of security flaws in WordPress and the plugins being used. Some were linked to hidden backdoors within their WordPress systems. In another instance, a former WordPress employee was responsible for a breach (Reference: ZDNet.com: WordPress Plugin Hacked By Angry Former Employee.

According to statistics presented in an article by WP WhiteSecurity, over 40,000 WordPress websites within the Alexa top one million rankings are vulnerable to hacker attacks (Reference: WPWhiteSecurity.com: 70% WordPress Installations Vulnerable.

At BrainScanMedia.com, Inc., we specialize in creating secure websites for our customers. Our websites allow them to effortlessly create, edit, and publish their own content through our user-friendly, in-house-built CMS Admin Portal, which is both secure and accessible online. Additionally, we provide secure and cost-effective website hosting services.

When considering a web design firm, it's essential to explore the option of having your website developed from the ground up, using the following coding technologies: PHP 8+ (Server-Side Hypertext Preprocessor), HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS 3 (Cascading Style Sheets), Bootstrap 5 (a responsive library for mobile design), jQuery (a JavaScript library), and SQLite (secured database files).

It's advisable to look for services that offer an in-house CMS (Content Management System) designed for security, complete with password protection to guard against third-party plugin vulnerabilities. You might also consider storing your content in SQLite Databases rather than MySQL Servers, as SQLite databases are actual database files stored within your website directory, simplifying the process of weekly website backups.

BrainScanMedia has been serving the staffing and recruiting industry for over 22 years. Additionally, we have provided website support and online presence solutions for state, regional, and national associations. The majority of BSM's clients are looking for websites that are visually appealing, easy to navigate, mobile-friendly, equipped with keyword searchable SEO, and offer the flexibility to add or modify content, including graphics, links, and email forms while ensuring security. As someone in the technology field serving an industry with highly competitive and vocal members, I believe it's important to provide the following relevant example.

Sales Recruiters, Inc. (www.salesrecruiters.com) is a 39-year-old recruiting firm. SRI actively evaluates, reviews, and adopts technology that serves its purposes and enhances its online presence and reputation. Three years ago, Sales Recruiters sought advice from BSM on securing CMS technology.

The manager at SRI committed to improving the company's unique visitor count and organic rankings for the firm's online presence. Initially, SRI's website was built on a WordPress platform. However, like thousands of other successful WordPress websites, it fell victim to hacking, compromises, and infections over a two-year period. Success tends to attract the interest of hackers, and on one occasion, a back door allowed malicious code to be embedded in the website. The cost of repairing this damage approached nearly two thousand dollars. In response to these challenges, SRI implemented a backup system for website pages. Within a year and a half, another security breach through WordPress resulted in hacker compromises. While the restoration and repair from the backup were successful, it still incurred a cost of six hundred and fifty dollars.

In discussions with SRI management, their IT advisor, and their marketing agency, BSM was able to create a secure Administrative Portal on a secure web server, which, over the last five years, has remained free from any security breaches.

Over the last three years, we have expanded our service offerings. This includes a login manager plugin that enables the SRI team to create secured login accounts with expiration dates for a protected marketing web page. This page allows SRI to selectively share marketing materials. Additionally, we designed a password-protected file manager plugin for SRI to upload and organize their marketing files. We've also developed new products tailored to SRI's needs.

One of these is a database-driven visitor manager that counts and tracks unique visitors versus returning visitors to their website. It provides bar charts and a list of current and past IP addresses to track the source of these visitors.

Furthermore, SRI's Admin Portal now features a new plugin that facilitates the creation of pre-made sub-websites on the fly. This allows each recruiter to have their own sub-website to share with clients.

While we understand that not all of our clients have complex requirements, we pride ourselves on our ability to assist each client in addressing their unique website needs, CMS options, and website hosting requirements. This personalized approach is a hallmark of BSM. If you would like to delve further into the topic discussed at the beginning of this article or if you require more information about our services, please don't hesitate to contact us using the information below.