Website Development

Hugo SSG

Web Dev Simpler, Quicker, Affordable

HUGO Static Site Generator

The web does everything these days. It’s where we work, it’s where we meet new people, it’s where we plan what to do with those people, we buy them gifts there, we get paid there, we get our entertainment media and news there, we educate ourselves there.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Basically the web does everything, everywhere, all at once.

Everything Everywhere All At Once Movie Poster

Well not exactly like the movie, but that’s still a lot. Maybe sometimes, too much. And when you get the bill for it all, you might realize it’s best not to buy something you didn’t need or want in the first place.

So You’re Not Making the Next Killer App

Most small to mid-sized businesses and organizations aren’t making the next Instagram or TikTok. In fact I’d dare say all of you are looking for something else that isn’t that scale. You may want a website for your organization to gain respect in your community and encourage volunteer participation. You may have a business that needs a sleek website that looks great and loads faster on all devices. You may have a related side project that you want to advertise on your personal domain. Those are all very valuable projects for your work, but none reach the complexity of a web app like Facebook or TikTok.

Sticker Shock

At a recent high school reunion I spoke with friends who asked about what I did and followed that with questions about web design. They had mentioned an entrepreneurial project and the desire to have a website for it. They casually inquired about pricing and I mentioned that most websites start at around $7,000 for anything you’d actually want the finished product of.

Yikes! If this is your first time seeing that in writing or hearing a quote welcome to the sticker shock club. But this is a decent competitive starting price for a very simple website. There’s just too much complexity for most these days that keeps their costs raising up. If you are a startup, a non-profit organization, or a small business you ma have that need with nothing near that budget.

What if I Told You There’s Another Way?

Website development done simpler and affordable is possible.

Let’s face it: most people only need or want static web sites with a design that supports their marketing profile to communicate important information online. And you don’t need a fancy Content Management System (CMS) or dynamic web app (ie: facebook.com) to do that. But you do want your site to load fast and put your best impression online.

What if I also told you we can help you with a great looking lightning fast website that’s also around a third of the cost of the lowest quote you’ll get from anyone else?

Don’t Take Our Word For It

We will happily update this gallery as we complete more projects for clients but our initial customer has been thrilled with their results so far. New Beginnings Community Operations is a 501(c)(3) organization that serves at risk youth and elders in the Raleigh area.

Website Development Simpler Affordable Example: New Beginnings Community Operations

But…How?

We won’t get into all the nitty-gritty here, so here’s the overview:

  • Cut out all that stuff you don’t need anyways
  • Using Hugo SSG for themes and templates to quickly generate simpler and elegant sites
  • Automating deployment of content directly from the developers’ machine to the live web
  • Don’t worry about complex database management, fewer footholds for hackers to get in

Website Development Simpler Affordable

Want a website designed for your business or organization like this? Sign up on our contact page and mention you would like to discuss a website development project.

Executive Summary Artificial Intelligence

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Executive Summary Artificial Intelligence or AI and is written with ChatGPT3.5 Powered by OpenAI. This episode covers AI as a technique for computers independently learning and improving themselves apart from their initial programming. Special Thanks to Google Deepmind, Pavel Danilyuk, and RoyaltyFreeMusic Nver Avetyan https://pixabay.com/users/royaltyfreemusic-29393722/

Executive Summary Artificial Intelligence or AI

Video on AI written with ChatGPT3.5 AI
OpenAI, your executive summary: a prominent artificial intelligence researching and deployment company.

Executive Summary is a new shorts video series where we break down the big ideas in tech into simple videos that give you the information you need. You bring the confidence, we provide the intel.

Need help with your company’s tech? Contact us now to see how we can help!

If this post helped you improve your digital security and privacy please like, subscribe, and click the YouTube bell. You’ll be the first to know when we have more tips on Executive Summary for the hottest topics in tech.

Security Checkpoint Google Authenticator

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Security Checkpoint Google Authenticator App: Join us as we bolster security in our Google Account using MFA and an Authenticator App. We prefer and demonstrate Authy, but you’re welcomed to use the official Google Authenticator or another trusted app like Microsoft Authenticator or Cisco Duo.

Security Checkpoint Google Passkeys

QR Code Icon Security Checkpoint

Security Checkpoint shows you how to setup a Google Authenticator App for better security on your account. It’s quick and easy, so why not join us?

Security Checkpoint – is a new series of web videos where we go through and improve our digital privacy and security one step and one minute at a time. These are all great security and privacy practices. You can follow along as Alan goes through his digital life and cleans up data and access.

Need help with your company’s cyber security? Contact us now to see how we can help!

If this post helped you improve your digital security and privacy please like, subscribe, and click the YouTube bell. You’ll be the first to know when we have more tips on Security Checkpoint for twitter and other digital services.

Security Checkpoint Google Passkeys

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Security Checkpoint Google Passkeys get us all one step closer to our goal from earlier this year to have secure simple sign ins.

Security Checkpoint Google Passkeys

Annoyed by passwords? Yeah we are too. What if I told you there’s already something better. It’s both more secure and easier to use? What is this magic? Simple, they’re called Passkeys and we highly recommend you use them with your Google account as we show here.

Passkey icon

How is this even possible? Well you can see what we said earlier this year about Passkeys, or go right to the source who’s developing them.

In short, Passkeys use your computer or smartphone device’s built-in security along with a biometric face or touch scan to make more secure multifactor authentication. So forget reusing your pet Fluffy’s name to protect important data. You weren’t still doing that right? Right?

Security Checkpoint – is a new series of web videos where we go through and improve our digital privacy and security one step and one minute at a time. These are all great security and privacy practices. You can follow along as Alan goes through his digital life and cleans up data and access.

Need help with your company’s cyber security? Contact us now to see how we can help!

If this post helped you improve your digital security and privacy please like, subscribe, and click the YouTube bell. You’ll be the first to know when we have more tips on Security Checkpoint for twitter and other digital services.

Oak City IT Blog

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IT work that actually works

IT work that actually works! We share all the best tips and tricks to tech in your organization. Also, posts show off our clients’ success stories which are ideas for how we can help you.

Modern computing technology requires a wide breadth and depth of knowledge. Thus we’re not only comfortable sharing our tips and tricks we insist on empowering you.

Your goals are our goals

Many IT service providers stick to old processes to do their job. This might have worked at one point, but you have new needs today to adapt to an ever changing world. Consider asking a professional that’s more in tune to your needs than trying to reach a quota on their ticketing system. To give you IT work that actually works for you we listen to your needs and goals first then apply our vast knowledge to the best solution for you.

Need something faster? Got a tight budget to work with? Need the best in class solutions? Our loyalty is solely to our clients. Trust us to not railroad you into a solution that fits our needs and forgets yours. Instead we will take your goals and consult with you on the best way to reach them.

Think global; act local

We have experience working with clients all over the world, but we like to focus on organizations in the greater Raleigh North Carolina area. We live here and we like figuratively and literally seeing eye to eye in person. If your Internet connection goes down, you don’t want to have to wait on service from someone in another time zone to try to fix it. You need help now. We look forward to earning your trust with the services you need and there’s no better way than to provide knowledgeable timely help in person!


IT Glossary: SEO

IT Glossary: SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Glossary definition: Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the process of improving your website’s performance and content to reach more people. In addition to other IT services we enjoy helping you with your website development needs.

When setting up an SEO strategy, you want to consider keywords and setup tools to measure it.

First, let’s setup a way to measure your progress. Assuming you own your organization’s website, we will focus on using the tools Google Analytics and Search Console. In this example, we use WordPress for our website so we will use a WordPress Plugin. Yoast SEO provides a great tool for managing your site’s SEO. They offer a free or lite version which will serve our needs just well for now. They also offer a premium version of their plugin which is certainly worth purchasing when you need more features to market your website.

Since Yoast SEO will manage the connection, we will start by installing it on WordPress. Login to your WordPress admin panel, usually at www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin/ and go to the dashboard. Please note that you’ll need to replace www.yourdomain.com with your website’s actual URL.

Next, select Plugins and Add New on the left side bar.

Add WordPress Plugin

Type “Yoast” in the Search field and use the Install Now button.

Install Yoast SEO

To get started using Yoast SEO we need to connect it to your Google Analytics account. Find the new Yoast SEO icon which looks like ‘Y SEO’ and click on it. From there navigate to the Webmaster Tools Tab section and you’ll see a blank area beside Google verification code (marked 3 in the screen below). Leave this here for now, we will come back to it later. Open a new browser tab for the next setup in Google.

We will cover Google Analytics and Google Search Console in our next post, but it you’re an overachiever and want to do it yourself you can click the link in the Yoast SEO plugin configuration called “Get your Google verification code in Google Search Console.”

Quick Tips: Security on the Web

Secure Websites with SSL and HTTPS

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a standard protocol for ensuring that your data is encrypted and securely shared with only the people you trust.

  • Get better SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and traffic when you use SSL/HTTPS!
  • Customers and web visitors will trust you more.
  • Check your website’s SSL/HTTPS here: https://www.whynopadlock.com/
  • You and everyone you work or live with should start requesting a proper httpS address and connection for all websites that you use, it’s safer for you and helps everyone online!