One of the most common errors you’ll see while navigating the web is the 404 – Not Found error. When you visit a webpage the server responds with some content and a code. If everything is as it should be, you’ll see a fully functioning site and the browser gets a 200 code. The 200 code is the server equivalent to a thumbs up. Servers can respond with many different codes. The first digit in the response code gives you a general idea of what’s going on. Codes in the four hundreds refer to a client (it’s a you problem) issue.

Check out this Wiki page for more information on server codes.

What is a 404 Code Exactly?

We’ve all seen a webpage look like this:

This means you either typed in an address that doesn’t exist or clicked on a link to website that doesn’t exist. This URL may have once existed and doesn’t anymore or it never existed at all. Either way, when you see a page like this that means the server doesn’t know what to show you.

You don’t see really basic 404 pages much anymore. It’s pretty lazy for a website/web designer to let the server show something like that.

Nowadays you’ll see something more like this:

This is clearly better because it gives the users options from here. They can navigate to pages that do exist. In the former example. the user could only click the back button to return from where they came from or take another swing at the real URL.

We use WordPress to build our websites and like other content management systems, it can handle 404s more gracefully than a server by itself. By default, WordPress includes at the very least, the header and the footer of the site. The body can contain whatever makes sense for your website. It can, for example, show blog posts they may relate to what the user was trying to find.

SEO Impact

There isn’t a direct impact on your SEO score by having 404s. When search engines identify results that don’t exist, they just stop including those pages when they crawl your site.

The indirect impact is, of course, that your site has fewer indexed pages than it should and THAT can impact your SEO score with engines.

Custom 404 Pages

Using a custom 404 page like the one described at the end of the section above will actually improve your SEO score. Having a tailored 404 page with several internal links will engage the user and stop some of them from bouncing off your site, thus increasing your onsite time and lowering your bounce rate.

Finding Your 404s

Fixing broken links is easy. Identifying them, on the other hand, can be more difficult. There are two ways to find 404s. The first is to manually find them, but opening up the inspector for a page on your site and viewing the “Network" tab. There you can see all of the assets that page is trying to access. If you order by status you can see your 404 statuses.

From there you just need to make that page or file exist at that location or you need to change the location the page is pointing to.

Broken Link Checker

If you’re using WordPress you can use a plugin like Broken Link Checker to find broken links for you. The plugin will identify and create a list of all broken links on the site.

Overall, 404 errors are not uncommon and are easy to repair. If your website links out to other sites or assets it is something that you’ll have to monitor. You can’t control what other websites do with their URLs and files so a link out could become broken at any time. That is what makes plugins like the Broken Link Checker, so helpful. It is constantly monitoring for broken connections.

Does your website need some love? Let’s talk.

When a Custom Website Makes Sense

We’ll explain in terms of using WordPress, but the principles are true of any content management system. Even though WordPress themes are not templates in the traditional sense, the end-product can certainly feel that way after being set up.

This may come as a shock if you’re not familiar with website builds, but there’s no realistic scenario where a developer would start from scratch on a website. If someone says that they need to, then you’re dealing with an inexperienced developer. Custom designs should at least begin with a framework.

Frameworks

Frameworks are themes that are created to be built upon. They contain much of the basic functionality and styling for a website. When building with a framework, your site will be an extension of the original code and contain only the unique aspects of your design. It still requires a coder to construct the site, but this means you save money by not paying them to reinvent the wheel for trivial site aspects.

Page Builders

We at Kicks Digital use a proprietary page builder to create all of our sites. Like a framework, it contains all of the basics of a website but instead of layering on actual code, the creator uses the theme’s building capabilities to develop pages and custom templates. These build-outs are saved in the database instead of coded files.

There are a couple of advantages to using a page builder over a traditional framework. The finished product is more portable. Because all of the structure and content is in the database, moving the database essentially moves the entire site.

No extra coding also means that anyone can update a page at any time. It doesn’t require a coder, coding software, or any file transfers. Pages are built right in the browser, and like our theme, are often drag and drop with text and image editing (making it easy).

Page builder themes are more easily updated. There’s no extra code that could conflict with the base theme which means there’s no chance your site could break just by updating it. While that should never be a worry when dealing with more seasoned developers and themes it is something to consider.

When a Template Makes Sense

Websites are an extension of your branding and in many cases serve as merely an online brochure with a contact form. From a functionality standpoint there isn’t much to it. There are a couple of website business objectives that can be met with templated websites.

Conversion / Landing Pages

Marketing and ad campaigns always need a location to convert potential customers and template solutions like Unbounce can be an excellent option. Even though the amount of design time and coding would be minimal for a one-page site or microsite, it makes more sense and be more useful if you know how to create one yourself using a landing page builder.

E-commerce Stores

Depending on how you’re planning on creating your online retail presence, relying on a template for part or all of your site may make sense. We’ve all been shopping online for years and there are parts of it that people probably take for granted at this point. Every part of the buying, cart, and checkout experience has to be accounted for–which means those pages need to be built. That doesn’t even include the admin views like inventory, order tracking, etc. Paying for a development company to create a custom solution for that would most likely be cost-prohibitive or at the very least a waste of money on your part.

We would never suggest that anyone pay to have a web development company custom code a shopping experience. We normally suggest that our clients build their store using Shopify. Shopify is entirely template-based. There are aspects of it that work much like a page builder, but the basic customization is just adding company colors and images.

As the centerpiece of your brand or marketing campaign, the decision of your website construction is an important one but doesn’t have to be a difficult one.

Have questions or want to talk web build? Drop us a line, we love this stuff.

Who is Kicks Digital Marketing?

We are a tight-knit, hardworking team dedicated to helping (mostly) Indiana businesses conquer the web. We work together to craft our client’s brand messaging, digital stories, and web presence. You’ll love being a part of this team!

What do we need you to do?

We’re looking for an experienced team and people-oriented writer who would be responsible for client interfacing discovery meetings, supplemental brand, competitive, product or service-based research, content curation, and editing. The role will work primarily on foundational branding and web development projects. Secondarily, the role may require writing for the Kicks Digital brand and blog writing for our ongoing marketing clients. 

Our Content Strategist will work directly with the Director of Marketing and Partnership Director, as well as clients. We believe the best way to deliver the brand’s voice is to hear it directly, so interviewing the client and crafting a process that works for complete discovery and project delivery will be critical. 

Primary Responsibilities: 

• Collaborate with a variety of clients and business verticals to formulate or refine brand and content strategies
• Participate in team-oriented pitches, presentations and interviews
• Conduct 1:1 client interviews, competitor analysis, keyword and supplemental research 
• Prepare brand messaging recommendations which might include: mission, vision, value, positioning and promise statements, key messages/headlines or taglines 
• Prepare content recommendations that balance SEO best-practices and brand messaging 
• Make recommendations and work with our Marketing Strategist and Senior Developer to implement site architecture and design improvements with the goal of improved search visibility, page speed, and mobile-friendliness
• Map out site architecture and content URLs for new and existing verticals to ensure optimal search visibility and user experience

What you will need to have.

Experience is gained in the field; however, we’d like you to have a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, or the equivalent of experience and understanding in content and digital strategy. We’ll require 4-7 years of client-facing and, or agency experience. This experience includes excellent copy-editing and proof-reading skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously through prioritization and workload scheduling; work well under pressure with tight deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 4-7 years of experience with SEO and passionate about staying up-to-date with best practices 
• Strong English communication, writing, and grammar skills – please send us (3) samples of your work
• Strong interpersonal and interviewing skills
• Strong organizational and project management skills 
• Candidate must “get” our Foolishness, have a sense of humor, and work well in a collaborative environment
• Experience with industry tools (We’re super users of Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Moz.) 

If you are interested in the experience we’ve described and want to work with an awesome team, send your resume and (3) samples to hello@kicksdigital.com or submit your resume using the form below.

Who is Kicks Digital Marketing?

We are a tight-knit, hardworking, fun team dedicated to helping businesses and organizations live their brands out loud online. We work together to craft our client’s digital stories and web presence. We’re the type of team that works and hangs together. Both are important to our culture.

Importance of Marketing Account Management

As an Account Manager, you would work directly with our Partnership Director, internal marketing team, freelance creative team, and our awesome clients to plan and execute marketing campaigns. You have 2-5 years of hands-on digital marketing experience and knowledge of social media, content marketing, analytics, and paid advertising.

This gig is not for the faint of heart. We need hustle, creativity, social excellence, and a passion for data.  

Your Daily Duties

• Lead client meetings. While most monthly retainer client meetings are phone or video calls, it will be essential to be Indy-centric for face-to-face accessibility.
• Set expectations, deliverables, and priorities for the clients and the internal creative team.
• Plan and execute an agile marketing strategy in-line with client goals.
• Manage projects, conduct research, track progress and results while being able to relay that knowledge back to the client with recommendations for improvement.
• Prepare and edit correspondence, reports, and presentations.
• Gather, organize, and maintain files and client assets related to marketing campaigns.
• Organize client communication including but not limited to: meeting notes, PM task management, CRM entries, email and phone communication, calendar, and scheduling logistics.

Our (Preferred) Experience

• Google Ecosystem (Drive, Docs, Sheets, etc.)
• SEO best practices
• Google Ads Certification
• Google Analytics Certification
• Facebook Ad Manager
• Wrike
• Hubspot
• Hootsuite
• WordPress (basic HTML)
• Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop and InDesign)

Role Requirements

• Associate’s Degree or higher
• 2-5 years of relevant marketing and advertising experience (preferably in an agency)

Hard Skills

• Google Ads certification
• Initiative to green-light projects on your own, but coachable to listen to strategic direction from team leaders
• Facebook Business Manager and social media automation tools
• Strong copywriting and editing skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects will be required
• Persuasive with details and facts to nurture clients and customer journey

Soft Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills and a collaborative style
• Commitment to high professional ethical standards in a diverse workplace
• Ability to challenge and debate issues of importance to the organization
• Articulate a business acumen

Send us your stuff!

If you are interested in flexing your marketing muscles and working with an awesome team, send your resume to hello@kicksdigital.com (bonus points for including your favorite band) or use our form below.

Note: Not sponsored at all- we just appreciate tools that make our lives easier. 

Zeplin – Seeing the Schematic

The most important step when tearing apart a Zeplin project is formulating a plan. Like most endeavors, foreseeing pitfalls and safe paths will help eliminate wasted time and frustration. No matter whether it’s Web 2.0, 1.0 or Geocities, websites generally have 3 or 4 distinct regions.  The header, footer and content areas. While it’s not as common as it used to be, sidebars are another area of note in a webs design. When you’re viewing the design you should be able to visually identify these regions without much trouble.

One easy trap to fall into is to just consider the home page when you’re making these distinctions. To avoid this “time suck" look at all of the designs for the project at once and note similarities. Generally, a website is not just a home page.  It’s an about page, contact page, blog, etc… If you’re planning out the header, for example, make sure you take note of every design and account for differences. This will help you to avoid having really messy CSS with tons of exceptions. The simpler your CSS is the easier the code will be to view, understand and maintain. This is easy to do when viewing a project in Zeplin. You’ll be able to see all the designs by simply scrolling back and forth and taking mental notes on each one.

CSS – Build your Bread Base

One of the nicest features of Zeplin and a clear pro over working directly in Photoshop is the CSS that is automatically created. The global CSS for headings, paragraphs, etc… is a great way to start your CSS. This is where you create the consistency in your website. The more thorough you are at this step the cleaner your CSS will be at the end of your build. Zeplin will provide you with all of the font families, sizes and weights that you’ll need.

In addition, when you’re in a single page design, clicking on elements in Zeplin displays that element’s width and height. From there you can set element max-widths, which is a very important part of making a website responsive for everything from large monitors to tablets.

Images – Grab Your Assets

Another great feature for Web Developers working in Zeplin is grabbing all the assets for a single page design all at once, including all resolutions. Pulling images out of Photoshop files can be very time consuming and can result in missed images or lower quality images. The one drawback in this arena is the lack of ability to download all of the assets, project-wide. While being able to download all of the images for a single page is nice it can result in duplicate assets once you grab everything from all the pages.

Content – Tickle the Text

Adding content and images is perhaps the last thing a site requires, but it’s where Zeplin really shines. Of all the Zeplin benefits the ability to easily copy content straight from the design to your clipboard is by far the nicest. Unlike copying content from Photoshop which requires multiple clicks and can be difficult to see and select at times, Zeplin does it better in two clicks.

Clicking a paragraph or heading element displays the content in the Zeplin nav bar that can be copied completely by clicking the copy icon without having to select the entire thing.

Keep it Simple

This, of course, is a simplistic outline of building a fully responsive web design.  There are many more considerations you’ll need to make to end up at your final product, but the general idea of keeping it simple should help guide any decision you make in web design and implementation. If you have questions about this, drop us a line!

Hosting

Registrar

Caching

G Suite

Gmail

Gmail has been around for years and started as a personal email provider but has expanded to the business sector. So for most of us that used Gmail for their personal inboxes, we had a seamless transition to using Gmail for business email as well. G Suite takes using Gmail for business emails to the next level. Instead of having an email address like [YOURBUSINESS].gmail.com you can have an email address that uses your website’s domain like hello@kicksdigital.com. There are a number of host providers that will give you an email address like this, but none will have the familiar and intuitive Gmail user interface.

Google Calendar

Sharing and collaborating on a single calendar can be critical for any size business. Scheduling becomes much easier when you know the meeting times for each person in your company. Each new event is created with a shared google hangout link for all participating members which eliminates any confusion when some members of the meeting are going to be remote. Again, there are several different calendar options out there, but few can compete with the natural integration with all other parts of G Suite.

Slack

Wrike

Zapier

The most positive effect of single page design is the ease of use.

Pro: Controlling the Narrative

Single page design lets you easily control how your users experience your website.

Pro: Mobile Friendly

The less you have to do to get the information you need the better mobile experience you’re going to have.

Con: Disorientation

Where am I?

Con: SEO

One of the most glaring drawbacks to single page design is your ability to maximize your SEO efforts.

The Verdict

Here’s How To Do It.

Assumptions

1. You have jQuery installed before running this code.
2. Your document is ready.
3. A function ‘$’ is defined.

Event Tracking

Event Arguments

Examples

Generic Link Click

Phone and Email Clicks

Button Click

Form Submissions

Identifying Groups

Creating Content

Email Design

Setup the Workflow Automations

Automation for Your Automation