Web Design Online Tools & Resources: Part 1

A Website Designer uses many online tools and resources to develop secure, functional and aesthetic websites. There are helpful resources available for all elements of web design, including resources to protect your site and its content. These can also be used as your site evolves to maintain a successful and secure online presence.

This article is Part 1 in a series outlining web design tools and resources that can be used by yourself or your website designer. This article will focus on tools to help you comply with copyright obligations and help secure your business online.

Helpful Web Design Online Tools & Resources for Business Owners

As a business owner, these simple, free online tools can safeguard your images and content on your site and enable you to check the authenticity of other businesses.

Check Copyright of an Image

Images are an essential element of a website and can be a great way to capture and keep the interest of a visitor to your site. However, it is necessary to adhere to the copyright laws governing the use of images on the internet.

If you find an image you like, whether it is a stock image or not, the free online source TinEye https://www.tineye.com will tell you who has ownership and how you can obtain permission. Just paste a copy of the image URL (right click on any image for ‘copy image address’ or similar) and hit the search icon. A list of where it appears on the internet or who owns it will appear, and then you can proceed from that point.

You may have an image that you like that has been cropped or segmented – TinEye can locate the full image for you. Just follow the steps above to source the original image and ownership.

Alternatively, TinEye can be used to see if anyone is using one of your images without permission.

Plagiarism Check

It is a well-known fact that good, concise content on a website will motivate your clients to stay and engage with your site. Furthermore, your site will be rewarded in search engine rankings by regularly adding or updating content. As with images, it is essential that you follow the copyright laws and ensure that you don’t plagiarise another article from the internet.  So, to give your site the best chance to rank make sure your content is relevant, informative and original.

With this free online tool, https://www.duplichecker.com you can check your text against every published article on the web. Just paste your content into the box or upload a file and hit search. If it comes back with no results, you can rest easy that your content is original.

Alternatively, you can check to see if anyone has plagiarised any of your content.

ABN Checker

When dealing with a business for the first time, it is wise to do an ABN check. With the Australian Government Business Register https://abr.business.gov.au/Tools/AbnLookup, you can check any ABN to see if they:

• Are a legitimate business
• Are registered for GST
• Have filed for bankruptcy (presently or previously under another business name)
• Have other business names (related businesses)
• Operate as a Sole Trader or PTY Ltd
• Operate within Australia and to check the exact location of the company

Advanced Web Design Resources

Some issues that arise with websites are best dealt with by a website designer. They too use online tools and resources to set up or fix elements on your site so that it functions correctly.

Here are some examples of the resources a website designer may use when developing or maintaining your site.

DNS lookup service

Everything that is connected to the internet, from websites to laptops, have their own unique Internet Protocol (IP) address, made up of a list of numbers such as 64.202.189.170. Simplifying for human use, websites are given a domain name such as f1rst.com.au, but they are recognised by the internet via its IP address.

Domain Name Service (DNS) is the central part of the internet that syncs the domain names with their Internet Protocol (IP) address.  It is therefore imperative the DNS records are set up correctly.

DNS knowledge is needed when setting up and making changes so is best handled by a website designer. If not set up correctly it will likely cause problems with your email facility or lead to the site going offline. One of the Website Designers favoured resources for checking DNS records is https://who.is.

SSL Security

When you go to a website, you should see in the URL section at the top, a green padlock with the word ‘secure’ next to it. This is used to identify that the site has the SSL certificate installed correctly, which allows secure web connections between a web server and a browser.

If your site doesn’t have the padlock, there is an issue with your SSL Certificate. Your Website designer can use the online source https://www.whynopadlock.com to see exactly what the problem is and then fix it for you.

F1RST have researched and chosen the best range of online tools and resources to develop an aesthetic, functional and secure website for your Coffs Harbour business. We offer a choice of Website Management Plans so that we can continue to maintain your website long after the web design phase has ended.