Do you have a non-HTTPS site? Then you’ve got a nasty surprise coming this month..

Up until this month, a “Not secure” warning only appeared next to the website address on non-HTTPS website pages that accepted a username and password or credit card.

Now, every non-HTTPS form and all non-HTTPS pages viewed in incognito mode will have this warning.

Chrome will show a “Not secure” warning when users enter text in a form on an HTTP page or when they view any non-HTTPS page in incognito mode. Google's been pushing for more security for a long time now, and this latest warning is their way of further nudging website owners to offer full security.

But who uses incognito mode anyway? Well, 46% of international web users, according to GlobalWebIndex.

How can you tell if your site is secure?

Well, if you’ve got a web developer, ask him. If not, register your site to Google Search Console. If your site isn’t secure, you should receive a notification from Google letting you know so.

On average, only half of page 1 Google search results are HTTPS. This means you're not alone if your website hasn't yet been converted, but also means that if it was, you’d have a big one-up on some of your competitors.

Digital Boffins at #DIS2017

The Digital Boffins team are preparing for this years Digital Innovation Show in Bournemouth on Tuesday! The Digital Innovation Show is dedicated to business growth in the digital world, and focuses on the latest strategies for digital marketing and lead generation in modern day businesses.

There will be 8 thought leaders at the event, giving talks about branding for your business, protecting your company from a cyber attack and much much more. Expect to see growth workshops at the show too, hosted by Flavourfy Digital and Dorset Growth Hub. These workshops will be on topics like the psychology of search engines, and complying with the all-important GDPR.

We’ll be at stand 8 on the ground floor talking to businesses, big and small, about how they can harness the power of social media. Whether they’re looking to train their own marketing gurus to become social media kings and queens, or whether they’re looking for someone to take it out of their hands completely.

We’ll also be promoting a show only offer exclusive to visitors, including a £50 Facebook advertising budget for anyone that signs up for a 3 month contract!

And if you’re still not sure whether to go, or if it’s right for your business - tickets are completely free, and lunch will be hosted by none other than Lunchd Dorset!

Grab your free tickets here, and we hope to see you there!

4 Claims Digital Marketing Agencies Make That You Should Run From

With a great online presence now more important than ever, we’re seeing more and more agencies appear, with more and more promises. And with everyone vowing such great success, who do you choose? Take a look at 3 of the top claims we’ve heard from digital marketing agencies that you should definitely run from.

The salesmen
10,000 new Facebook likes! 50,000 new Twitter followers! Great! But where does this get you? While these claims may sound good, they lack substance. Will 10,000 new Facebook likes help you reach your company’s sales target? Will 50,000 new Twitter followers create brand loyalty? Probably not. Look deeper into how the agency promises to execute the claims, if they’re pledging huge numbers in a short period of time, there’s a chance dodgy tactics may be used.

The “we’ll-get-you-on-the-front-page-of-Google”-ers
So if you weren’t running by now, you definitely should be. Agencies that guarantee you a spot on Google’s front page are pretty likely to get you removed from Google. A good SEO strategy will tie in with your overall digital marketing plan, so avoid any companies that promise huge results in a short period of time.

The ridiculously cheap ones
(And probably the ones your boss will want to go for.) When the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. You want a social media agency that lives and breathes your brand, and also has a deep understanding of your goals and who you’re targeting. Agencies that offer management of 5 social channels and 50 posts a month all for £150 are probably going to be churning out pretty basic content that doesn’t have your brand goals in mind.

The all-in-one-ones
With so many agencies cropping up, they’re all trying to be the best of the best and outweigh their competitors. To do this, some agencies will try and offer every service in the books. This may mean that they outsource work, so the person that you spoke to on the phone won’t actually be the person that’s completing the work, or they’ll be spreading themselves thin, and offering services that they’re not actually that good at.

With so many agencies and offers, it’s hard to know who to trust. That’s why we offer a free, no obligation BoffinBulb before we go further with any services. So all your social media worries and concerns are put to rest, before you spend a penny.

 

6 of our Favourite Totally Microwavable Work Lunches

Can’t cope with the office judgement of having takeaway leftovers for lunch AGAIN? We get it. Prepping lunch is hard, and when you’ve just finished a long day at work, it’s the last thing you want to do. So take a look at our 6 fave kinda-almost-healthy microwaveable lunches, and never have to face the Sunday night dread again 😉

Standing over a stove and stirring constantly? Not today! These tasty Microwave Risotto Cups can be made in 10 minutes, meaning you can prep them the night before and heat them up during lunch.

Fancy Jane’s avocado salad never looked so boring. Really show off your Michelin star microwave skills with this Microwave Salmon with Sriracha Mayo.

Low-carb just not doing it for you? Us neither. We’ll let these Microwave Nachos speak for themselves.

We’ll file this one under: super filling eats that won’t leave you in a food coma, and may even leave your colleagues thinking ‘wow, maybe she really does go to the gym 8 times a week.’ Check out the recipe for this Brown Rice with Edamame and Pineapple dish.

Ridiculously overpriced Starbucks bagel? Not here! This Microwave Egg and Vegetable Sandwich is guaranteed to see you through till the end of the day. (Warning: you may need a toaster for this one)

Spinach Ricotta Lasagna in a mug?! Ready in 15 minutes?! Take a seat. It’s true. (And we can’t wait to try it either)

And there you have it! Every last excuse you had to buy a Tesco meal deal, out the window.

The Boffins’ top tips to growing your way to Instagram stardom

We won’t lie, followers aren’t everything. But they sure are good for social proof, and you obviously want the largest audience for all your great content too.

Getting started
First thing’s first. We’ll start with the basics. Grab a good username and take a fantastic profile image. Try and keep it consistent and use the same username across all your social channels. And make sure your profile picture summarises you or your brand perfectly too, as it’s the first thing people will see.

Choose a theme. No no, not a Wordpress theme. Manage people’s expectations by letting them know the content they’ll see on their newsfeed before they follow you. Don’t expect to gain a large following if you haven’t got a clear theme. So, if you’re a food blogger, don’t start posting about your pug’s new outfit. The same as if you’re a brand or company, stick to what you’re trying to promote and what your target audience are interested in.

Gotta connect ‘em all. Well, Facebook anyway. Connect your Instagram page to your Facebook account. If you have a Facebook Page this will give you access to loads of nifty analytics called ‘Insights’. If you don’t have a Page however, it’s still worth connecting as it will make it easier for Facebook friends to find you on Instagram.

Raking them in
Buying followers. Don’t. Even. Think. About. It. Instagram follows the same algorithm as Facebook, meaning the reach your content gets is decided by how high quality Instagram ranks it. Now, fake followers won’t engage with your content. So if you’ve got 10,000 followers and you’re only getting a few likes, Instagram will assume this is poor quality content and won’t place it as high in other’s newsfeeds. So, by buying followers you’ll see a lower organic reach. Not good.

Engage with potential customers and followers. Find a hashtag relevant to your brand or niche and interact with the content by liking, commenting and even following users that use it. As the people using those hashtags are likely to be relevant, there’s a chance you might see a few follow backs.

Cross-promote your page. Use your other media channels to let people know you’re on Instagram. This could be on your emails, website, business cards, or even on the side of your business vans.

Down to business
No matter how good you are at the stuff above, if you haven’t got a great feed, people won’t be interested. Your content needs to be great in order for people to follow. Choose an image and filter theme and keep it consistent. Colour themes can be great to do too, although hard to execute. (Did you know that predominately blue images generate 24% more likes than predominately red images? Cool huh.)

That text box? Use it. Sounds obvious, but a lot of people don’t take advantage of this. One of the beauties of Instagram is that long captions can work just as well as short snappy ones. So experiment with different types. Captions can make or break your image, and be a deciding factor between whether a user double taps or not. So make it count. Use emojis to draw attention too.

Plan your posts - make sure you’re posting regularly, but not too regularly. If you’re bombarding people’s newsfeeds, it’s likely they’ll unfollow. Also if your account is inactive, they’ll probably unfollow too. Try and keep a flow with your content, this could be anything from 1-3 posts a day. Timing is important too. If you’ve got access to Instagram Insights, take a look at when your followers are most often online and try to post around then.

And now you’re well on your way to Instagram stardom. If you’re stuck for content, have a look at your best performing posts, pick out why you think it did well and try to mimic that.

Kick-start your social media presence, book a Boffin Bulb. Right. Now.