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3 Security Plugins for WordPress to Keep Your Blog Safe

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Hosting

The post 3 Security Plugins for WordPress to Keep Your Blog Safe appeared first on HostGator Blog . WordPress is home to hundreds of millions of bloggers, the idea that it wouldn’t be a huge target for hackers is nothing short of ignorant. WordPress is constantly being targeted by both low-profile and high-profile security pentesters who may want to exploit the platform for either personal benefit, or for getting an official reward, though the latter is rarely the case. Security can be seen in many different ways, but the type you will usually experience when dealing with WordPress is called web security. Web security possesses the ability to put your whole web file system at risk by having vulnerabilities that haven’t been properly understood and prevented. However, preventing attacks from previously unknown vulnerabilities is next to impossible, which is why we need to look elsewhere. Some of the best security protection for WordPress comes from using professional security plugins. A security plugin can help to prevent unauthorized access, as well as log threatening events, it can even completely disable access to your sensitive parts of your website, and you can be the only person in charge of enabling them back. Lets take a look at the top three WordPress security plugins on the market. 1. Sucuri Security Sucuri is a well-known and established name in the world of WordPress (and general web) security. The Sucuri Security plugin has been built to reflect the latest developments in web security, so as to ensure that all WordPress bloggers have their blogs safe and secure. Sucuri plugin will help you to monitor the activity of your logs and outline potential security risks, the plugin comes equipped with a versatile malware scanner that will remove any malware on daily basis, on top of that it will integrate a number of security practices that will make it next to impossible for hackers to break into your blog. Click here to download Sucuri. 2. BulletProof Security BulletProof is very likely to be the most sophsisticated WordPress security plugin, with an amount of features that no other plugin has been able to match, and most likely never will. Is this a good thing? Well, it depends. The BulletProof Security plugin does a lot of things besides securing your WordPress blog, it will help you optimize your sites performance, and you will be able to take advantage of features such as .htaccess security, database backup security, and security precautions for all logged-in users. (Cookie based.) It’s highly recommended that you spend some time reading the full list of features on the official plugin page, and decide for yourself whether this plugin is something you’d like to work with. Click here to download BulletProof. 3. Wordfence Security The first thing Wordfence will do after you install the plugin, is to instantly check your site against possible malware threats. The way Wordfence does it, is that it takes the official WordPress source-code and checks it against your own current version on the server, including for themes and plugins. The output is a list of potential threats which you can then terminate, so you don’t have to worry about custom plugin and theme changes being classified as threats. This security plugin will not only make your site significantly faster, you will also be pleased to know that the plugin is open-source and anyone can contribute to its success. Click here to download Wordfence. web hosting Continue reading →

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9 Best Practices For Social Based Customer Care

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Hosting

The post 9 Best Practices For Social Based Customer Care appeared first on HostGator Blog . It is no question that social channels can be an extremely valuable tool for a business. It not only increases brand awareness and connects you to potential users, but gives you a direct channel to your current users as well. Yet, as the saying goes, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ Now that you are talking to your users, know that your users are talking to you, and it is not always positive. Using social media as a tool for customer care not only let users feel heard in a medium they feel comfortable with, but it also sends the right signals to potential customers about how you treat your users. Here are some best practices to doing this properly.   1. Don’t Disregard The Issue Everyone wants to be heard, and a generic, “take a look at our FAQ’s page for answers to most of your issues,” is just useless enough for your user to look elsewhere. Put a pinned comment at the top of your Facebook page, or in your twitter bio, that sends user to try your customer care channels first. Many may ignore it, but a number will listen and be dealt with there, only coming back if the problem persists. You may need to try harder to keep them happy after the process but at least it isn’t clogging up your social feed.   2. Treat Your Users As People Not Problems Don’t be afraid to banter and have an informal chat, as long as you don’t make it inappropriate or too personal for a public forum. Users respond to the human element and will have a more positive impression than if they receive generic, robotic answers. Look at your user’s basic information. The instructions you give to a tech-savvy teen, would not be appropriate for someone with less technology experience. Adapt your support accordingly.   3. Keep It Short And Sweet You need to keep you user engaged, the worst kind of service is one that is met by the sound of crickets because you have lost your audience 4 tweets ago. Make sure your answers are informative but do not drag on longer than necessary. If you can be as effective with three words as using a paragraph, opt for the three. You will maintain your audience’s attention span and not make them feel that their time has been wasted with superfluous information.   4. Don’t Be Afraid To Take It Elsewhere Some issues are universal and your reply could be of value to all users, if this is not the case, then you should carry on the conversation in a direct message or through email. If they have opened a support ticket before contacting you, take their ticket number and flag it up with your support staff to be prioritized.   5. Give Clear Answers Try to make your post, tweet or Facebook message as informative as possible. Be aware that talking on your Facebook homepage or through main twitter channels means that anyone can see your interaction. Both current and potential users can be listening, and your decorum can be a make or break for some of them. Make sure not only that you are patient and helpful, but also that you are using proper grammar and punctuation. When someone’s account is frozen, it is not the time to bombard them with emojis.   6. Look Out For The Little Guy There will always be that shy user that will post once, oftentimes as part of an unrelated thread that will get lost unless you are actively looking out for them. Signaling them out and answering their issues or concerns sets you apart from much of the competition, and lets the user feel important which could result in lifelong loyalty.   7. Deal With Complaints Some users are out for blood, ignoring a negative comment can be more disastrous than you realize. Be warned that some users may use their social following to bombard you page or ‘trash’ your brand. They can do this by creating inflammatory hashtags or posting multiple comments across all of your social channels. Early intervention is key here.   8. Separate The Wheat From The Chaff Not all users on your social channels are what they seem. Keep a sharp eye out for competitors looking to harm your brand, and destroy your service’s reputation. If you are sure a user is not what they seem, and they are becoming more hassle than their worth, don’t be afraid to block them from your account. You should only do this as a last resort! A perfect page looks fake, and will cause you to loose trust from potential users.   9. Manage Expectations If you are a small business, no one expects you to have a large social media support team. Be honest with your audience and don’t spread yourself too thin. If users know that it could take up to a few days to have their complaint attended to, their expectations will be better managed and they are less likely to be fed-up and leave. Just be sure to keep your promises, if you say it will be up to two days, make sure it is.   ***** Natalie Lehrer is a senior contributor for  CloudWedge . In her spare time, Natalie enjoys exploring all things cloud and is a music enthusiast. Follow Natalie’s daily posts on Twitter: @ Cloudwedge , or on  Facebook .   Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosauraochoa/3256859352/in/photolist-5XNfPs-dUmKE4-amC4jN-6mYWTq-aFy3bt-dZxNRq-6u2DBs-5XJ1Qc-9eVCSc-99BVQZ-9MoWtb-9hNywz-9x7H6Z-8bspY4-4oUWXS-6DtPYC-axnKy3-6u2Dkq-7rY7do-6qPE85-7YNkeA-7YNkh5-8Q7LKc-8Q7LSH-8Q7LZ4-8QaSeA-9yMPBV-71ZNv4-8NyVNa-yv3t2-6tXvgR-6qPE89-7oytoK-8H6Z3P-6qPE8f-aucWr1-dU7Cn1-9iAUEF-9iAVoa-9iAVf2-9iE4fm-9iATSR-9iE2eb-9iE3uw-9iAWvP-9iATHv-9iAUmz-9iAUY2-9iE4od-9iE47b web hosting Continue reading →

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3 Ways To Make Money With A Blog

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Hosting

The post 3 Ways To Make Money With A Blog appeared first on HostGator Blog . A blog that you use to share your knowledge on frequent basis is a small business entity, even if you haven’t yet recognized that fact. Starting a blog is starting a journey in several different areas; writing, marketing, social media, even creativity. All these areas can be individualized and you will find plenty of job opportunities on both freelance sites , and startup companies . The blog itself can be turned into a money making property as well, with the right tools and attitude it is possible to earn a solid 5 figure income every year, those who have the right patience and approach are able to have a turnaround of 6 figures. Darren Rowse is one of the oldest professional (and well-known) bloggers in the community, and although over the years he has quieted down, he has achieved a level of mastery over blogging that he can turn any blog into a revenue powerhouse . How do we go about making money with our blogs? Can we do it without being overly invested in writing and publishing? Below you will find the most popular advertising techniques that bloggers employ on daily basis. Remember: You should never compromise the quality of your content for advertising revenue, eventually content that’s overpopulated with advertising techniques is going to dry out and you’ll feel bad about the choices you made.   1. Affiliate Marketing Are you familiar with the term affiliate marketing? It’s very likely that you’ve heard it before, and if not here’s a great introduction piece that shares some tips, for bloggers, on how to make the most out of it. Affiliate marketing is the process of selling someone else’s product that gives you commission for each sale. It may be 35% or 70% — each program is different. Of course, HostGator has an excellent Affiliate Program . Additionally, sites like ShareASale , LinkShare , and Amazon Associates are among the leading affiliate programs that a vast majority of bloggers use today. Through these sites you can find products in pretty much every niche imaginable, which gives you the freedom of choice as to what kind of products you wish to promote.   2. Launch A Product To counter the above technique, we can actually try and build our own product; whether it’s a simple eBook or an online course — it won’t matter. Launching our own product as a blogger can be an exciting journey of learning, understanding, and most importantly success. A successful launch begins with great timing. You might feel a sense of urgency to introduce your service, but rushing could spell disaster. When necessary, temporarily postponing your launch can mean the difference between failure and glowing reviews. — Chuck Cohn Types of products a blogger might create and sell: Courses Webinars Reports Software/Apps/Plugins Video/Audio/DVD Merchandise If you have got the available capital, you might also want to consider investing in creating something that people can use to improve their own blogging experience; perhaps a keyword analytics tool, or a platform that analyses social media profiles, Product Hunt is a great place to start for amazing business ideas.   3. Paid Services Like I mentioned at the beginning of the article, blogging is going to yield you a significant number of skills, all of which can be utilized together (as a blogger) or individually, and still provide a solid stream of income. Here are some of the most common services that bloggers might promote themselves as being able to do: Freelancing — freelance is the most widely known way of working online, and as a blogger one of the most valuable skills you have is writing and marketing; there’s plethora of jobs available to individuals who can do both. Coaching — you can promote yourself as an online coach who can teach others the ins and outs of successful blogging. Speaking — make sure that businesses and conferences know that you’re available for speaking purposes, not only will it help you to become better at what you do, you will be able to promote yourself beyond your usual reach. Design — bloggers are often indie designers, which is why you can try and charge for design tips and other design related issues that other freelance bloggers might have. Events — attending events and promoting your services in the real world is a great way to make new connections and meet new friends. Training — once you feel proficient enough in building blog sites that are truly community oriented, it might be time to consider training others on a larger scale. blogging is definitely not sitting and writing, it is much more than that and you have to spend some time being a blogger to truly appreciate that fact. HubSpot has written a great piece on how bloggers can utilize their blogs to acquire customers instead of visitors. When we start investing our time and energy into something like a blog, it’s only natural that we will eventually want to start getting paid for it, not only to sustain ourselves, but to be able to push further and further. web hosting Continue reading →

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What Does Your About Page Say To Your Audience?

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Hosting

The post What Does Your About Page Say To Your Audience? appeared first on HostGator Blog . Your about page is a crucial part of your website. You can use it to convey valuable information about your business and connect with your user in new and more meaningful ways. Sadly, most business don’t use their about page to actually deepen their relationship with their users. Instead they just use the page to talk about themselves and give a quick rundown of their services offered. These elements are necessary, but they shouldn’t be the sole focus of your about page.   Make Your About Page About Your Visitors When you’re at a party, or having a conversation with someone and they keep going on and on about themselves, it’s not a very fun conversation is it? Your about page comes across the same way when you only talk about yourself and your accolades. Instead, try a different approach, and make your about page about your readers . The moment a visitor clicks over to your about page you’ll want to tell them the benefits they’ll receive if they stick around. You want to speak to anything that will prevent them from clicking the back button. Address their needs and pain points as soon as possible.   Speak To Their Feelings When you can convey emotion and feeling with your about page it’s much easier to get them excited about what you’re offering. By taking the time to explain their feelings, your visitors will automatically feel like they’re accepted and part of what you’re building. It’s much easier to get someone to take action when you show that you deeply understand their needs.   Get Into Their Heads Once you’ve shown you understand them on a level of emotion you need to make your readers feel as if you can read their minds and present them with the perfect solution. You can do this by going deeper into their pain points, and showing how you can solve their problems, and that you’ve done it before.   Use The “Humble Brag” When you brag about yourself or your business accomplishments you need to do it in a way that doesn’t turn off your readers. Simply listing your accomplishments can actually isolate your readers and make it harder for them to relate to you. A great way to do this is to wrap your accomplishments inside of a story or a joke. Or, you can highlight them alongside other less than perfect details.   Wrap Up With A Call-To-Action Once you finish your newly upgraded copy on your about page it’s time to tell your visitor what to do next. Since your about page often gets a lot of traffic you should conclude the page with a call-to-action that leads to a subscribe form or some other course of action. Give your users a way to continue the conversation with you. Making sure your about page connects with your users is a crucial piece a lot of online business owners are missing. Get this piece right and you’ll see your subscribers and relationships start to blossom. web hosting Continue reading →

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The Power Of Native Advertising With Instagram

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Hosting

The post The Power Of Native Advertising With Instagram appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . The term ‘native advertising’ has been criticized in some ways as unethical, due to the disguise in which businesses and corporations present their products. Most recently, Al Jazeera America highlighted a questionable innovation by CNN, under which they’ll be broadcasting corporate propaganda disguised as news, a move that looks very bad for the integrity of journalism. However, the good news within this article is that native advertising doesn’t have to be deceptive, nor does it require your business buy editorial content from CNN. Nowadays we have unlimited reach and marketing potential right at our finger tips, the tool of choice here being Instagram. Instagram is currently the fastest growing Social Media platform in the United States, with a user base that increased by nearly 60% in 2014. The go-to strategy with online marketing has always been to get it while it’s good. Here’s why Instagram is currently one of the most powerful marketing tools on the planet, completely free of charge.   Visibility Algorithms are basically a fancy word for saying “we filter everything how we see fit.” Naturally, algorithms are put in place to level the playing field based on valuable and quality content, but it doesn’t always seem that way. For instance, anything that gets posted on Facebook is subject to innumerable placement filters that determine how visible your post will be to a given audience. Even if you have 10,000 people who “Like” your business page, as of January 2015 Facebook made adjustments that greatly decreased how many people will see your posts. Yet, they continue to offer “Boosted Posts” where they’ll gladly accept funding for your audience to see your content. Seems a bit ironic doesn’t it? Instagram on the other hand operates on 100% visibility. If you post something it will be seen chronologically no matter what. This greatly improves how people choose to follow accounts in the first place, and adds up to a much higher ROI for those who put significant effort into what they post.   #Keywords Hashtagging is now a cultural phenomenon by which we base casual references to everyday life. Although you can use them across most platforms (Facebook, Twitter), Instagram has the most useful interface for turning hashtags into prominent keywords that allow anyone in the world to discover your content based on common interests. How Many Can Be Used – Instagram allows you to include up to 30 hashtags per post that will take the photo and place it chronologically with every other post with the same hashtag. This greatly extends the number of people viewing and liking your posts. Where To Put Them – Many people build hash-tags into the description of their post making them visible for everyone to see, which is a great way to create a trending tag. However, many people see hashtagging as cluttered and unattractive to a posts simplicity. By putting all the tags in the first comment, they will eventually be unnoticeable after 5 comments. Part of having a successful native strategy is hiding the hashtags since their primary use for businesses should be to get them in the categories your audience will see them. (See photo below)   What Tags To Use – The more popular a tag is, the more likely people will want to browse it to find interesting posts. Only select hashtags people will find relevant to the post. In addition to using hashtags, you can also tag other Instagram profiles to make connections with those in your network. (See photo above) How To Find Popular Hashtags – While there are many websites that keep updated tallies on which hashtags are trending, or the most popular, Instagram also allows you to browse hashtags directly in their interface. (See photo below)   Creating Native Content The whole point behind native advertising is to create content that doesn’t stick out to your followers as something being sold to them. We’re over commercials, our heads are full, and social media is supposed to be where we look for interesting media. Post Beautiful Images- Instagram is built to scroll, and photos that don’t catch your eye will be passed right over. Create Mini Videos- Instagram allows 15 second videos or less. Create one that shows your product or service in action to instill curiosity in your followers Create A Call-to-Action- By asking your followers to post pictures using your product, or by referencing your company, you’ll attract followers based on social correlations. Be An Awesome Company, and Show It- Part of why so many large companies have millions of followers is they advocate for environmental stewardship, express their values in their posts, and share their customers photos that show their brand in action. REI is an excellent example of a company meeting those standards, see below. web hosting Continue reading →

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