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The Basics Of Domain Redirects

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Hosting

The post The Basics Of Domain Redirects appeared first on HostGator Blog . The Basics Of Domain Redirects Domain redirects have a variety of purposes. If you’ve moved your website to a new domain, or have changed the URL structure of some of your pages, then it’s time to utilize a domain redirect. Knowing how to redirect a domain to another can be a very valuable skill in your webmaster toolbox. Below you’ll learn what a domain redirect actually is, the types of redirects you have available, why you’d want to use one, and finally how to implement a domain redirect. What Is a Domain Redirect? When a domain redirect is in place the web browser will direct one domain name to another. For example, if you type in the domain name relentless.com in your browser you’ll be redirected to Amazon.com . Domain redirects can be implemented for a wide variety of reasons. Perhaps you changed your brand name and you’re redirecting an entire domain name to a new site, or, you’ve updated your link structure and want to redirect any existing traffic to the updated URL. Let’s look at the example of HostGator.com. We have the main domain name, but you could also pick up domains that are common misspellings or variations, like HstGator.com, or Hostgator.net (Try typing either of these in. You’ll note they both redirect to HostGator). Then, your new domains to the main domain name. Or, you could even purchase an domain name that’s related to your niche to be redirected to your site, like what Neil Patel has recently done with Kissmetrics . Redirects are used to inform the servers that the content has moved from one URL to another one. If you want to send traffic from an existing domain name, or pass on the existing domain authority, then you’re going to need to setup a domain redirect. Redirects can also be put into place if you have any existing 404 pages, or older pieces of content that are no longer relevant. Instead of visitors landing on a non-existent page you can redirect that traffic to a related page on your site. For example, eCommerce stores can use redirects to direct users to similar products, once they no longer carry a certain product. Instead of the user landing on a 404 page , they’ll be sent to a page that has products similar to the one they were looking for.   Types of Domain Redirects There are a few different types of domain redirections you’ll want to be aware of. The 301 redirect is the kind you’ll probably be using most often, but there are a few others you might use sparingly.   1. 301 Redirect A 301 redirect is the most common type of redirect. This type of redirect will pass almost all of the existing link equity of the domain, so it’s commonly used for SEO purposes. This is the type of redirect you should be using, both on a page, and domain basis. In most cases it’s the best redirect fit for the job.   2. 302 Redirect Why use a 302 redirect when a 301 will do? 302 redirects are very rarely used and don’t serve much of a purpose. There are instances where a 302 redirect will be treated in the same light as a 301 redirect, but it’s almost always recommended to use a 301 redirect. A 302 redirect will let the search engines and browsers know that the page has moved temporarily . This could have use if you’re planning on changing the page back to the original URL, but most often, this style of redirect is rare.   3. Meta Refresh A meta refresh is a redirect that’s executed on a page level, instead of the traditional server level. These redirects are slower and not used very often, as they won’t pass on any existing page authority. You’ve probably seen these used before when you land on a page and you see a message that says, “This page has moved, if you’re not redirected in 5 seconds, please click here.” This type of redirect isn’t used very often as it doesn’t pass much link equity, and it creates a poor user experience. Chances are your visitors don’t want to wait five seconds for you to redirect them to the proper page.   What Kind of Domain Redirect Should I Use? The most common reason domain redirects are used is to preserve the SEO value of an existing site and pass it onto a new site or domain. Let’s look at the following scenario: You need to redirect a URL to a new domain permanently. That way whenever a user types in ilovedogs.com they’ll be taken to ilovecats.com . You’ll have a few different types of redirects you can use, but the type of redirect you’ll be using most often is the 301 redirect. This type of redirect will let both the web browser and the servers know that the site has been permanently moved. This lets the search engines know that the pages on that domain have not only changed location, but the original content (that picked up the rankings and links) is now over at the new URL. That way any link juice and authority that domain had previously picked up will be passed onto the new site. If you’re doing this for purely SEO purposes, keep in mind that this process can take some time. The indexing and replacement of the new page will depend on how often the search engine bots visit the page. Overall, using a url redirection on a page basis will take less time than redirecting an entire domain. Spammers have abused the process of 301 redirects in the past, so the search engine bots will take longer to verify that an entire domain has indeed moved. You do have other options of redirecting a domain, including 302 redirects and meta refreshes, however, these aren’t recommended. Especially, if your goal is to pass on the existing value of the site on to a new domain.   How to Implement a Domain Redirect Setting up a redirect is probably something you’ll have to do as your site grows. Luckily, with the help of the bundled tools within cPanel setting up a redirect isn’t too technical of a process. Below you’ll learn how to setup a 301 redirect from within the HostGator cPanel: First you’ll need to login to your cPanel. Once inside, find the link called Redirects . On the next screen you’ll choose the type of redirect and what link or domain you want to redirect. Once you’re done click ‘ Add ’ and your new redirect is now in place. Hopefully, you have a better understanding of what a domain redirect is, when you’ll want to use one, and how to setup your first redirect. If you’re interested in purchasing a domain name you can do that right within HostGator. Or, if you want to transfer over an older domain name you can do that too! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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A Guide To Conducting A Website Safety Check

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Hosting

The post A Guide To Conducting A Website Safety Check appeared first on HostGator Blog . A Guide To Conducting A Website Safety Check Most people will think that hacking will never happen to their website until it does. Most people only think about their site’s security once their site has been compromised. But, security is something you’ll want to take seriously from the beginning. You never know when hackers could be trying to force their way into your website. To ensure that your site’s security standards are up to date, and you don’t have any existing security issues it’s important to do a website safety check. Below we’ll walk you through the process of doing a site security check .   How Your Website Can Be Attacked Simply having a website live on the internet means that it’s prone to a lot of risks. Here are the most common forms of attacks you’ll want to be aware of and protect yourself against: DDoS — This type of attack will flood your site with traffic and service requests, which will overwhelm your site and bring it offline. Brute force — This attack uses an application that cycles through password combinations until it finds one that works, and the hacker will have unlimited access to your site. Malware — Malware covers things like viruses, worms, spyware, and more. This type of attack and can steal your information, erase your website data, and even infect people who visit your site. Injection — An injection uses malicious data or some kind of command that will make your site give the hacker access to sensitive information. Scripting — Cross-site scripting lets hackers hijack your website’s traffic, or change it in some way. Simply having knowledge of the above types of attacks isn’t enough. You need to proactively protect your website and any users who are interacting with it. Below you’ll learn how to conduct a website safety check to ensure your current site is secure, and take steps to protect from any future attacks. Conducting a Website Security Check The goal of a security check is to identify any security vulnerabilities before they become actual issues. After all, you can only fix security issues if you know they’re there in the first place. Follow the steps below to find and fix and existing security holes.   1. Update Your Current Site Before you begin doing any security checks it’s a good idea to update your current website. If you’re running WordPress, then make sure your WordPress core, themes, and plugins are all up to date. This will help keep you safe from existing vulnerabilities that the updates have been created to protect against.   2. Remove Any Older Accounts If you’ve been running your site for a while, then you might have some user accounts that are no longer in use. These accounts might have weaker passwords and be easier to crack, or they might belong to people no longer associated with your site. Go through any accounts that have access to your site and delete them, or change the user permissions, so they don’t have access to the entire backend of your site.   3. Do a Security Scan Now, it’s time to run your site through an online security scanner to check for any issues. There are a variety of both paid and free tools you can use. If you’re just getting started with optimizing your security, then you can use one of the free tools below: Sucuri Site Scanner Web Inspector Pentest Site Scanner Input your URL into any of the above tools. The software will check your site for any known security issues and give you a report that shows things you can fix.   4. Fix Any Issues If any issues are detected, then fix these as soon as you can. The free tools above will only give you a quick check to known errors. If you want a detailed report, then you’ll have to pay for an in-depth security screen. If you use HostGator for your web hosting, we recommend Sitelock . However, the free scan will be enough for most website owners.   5. Use an Ongoing Solution Even if the scan above revealed that your website is secure and free of malware and other issues, it’s still a good idea to take the steps for ongoing site protection. There are a variety of tools out there that will regularly protect your site, and do regular malware scans, and backups in case something unfortunate happens. If you’re a WordPress user, there are a few security plugins you should consider: WordFence Sucuri Security iThemes Security All In One WP Security and Firewall BulletProof Security   Secure Your Site. It’s Important. Hopefully, you have a better understanding of the common ways your site can become compromised, and the steps you can take to improve your site’s security. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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Your Web Hosting Checklist: How To Choose the Right Plan and Host

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Hosting

The post Your Web Hosting Checklist: How To Choose the Right Plan and Host appeared first on HostGator Blog . Review This Checklist Before Choosing Your New Web Hosting Provider Whether you’re launching a new website or thinking about switching to a new plan for the one you already have, browsing web hosting packages can be overwhelming. There are so many different types of packages and features that it’s hard to truly understand what makes them all different and pinpoint which one makes the most sense for you. To help you navigate the process of choosing a web hosting provider, we’ve compiled a list of the main questions you should ask and things you need to know. 10 Questions to Ask to Understand Your Needs Before we get into the specifics of what different web hosting packages offer, you should take some time to define your particular needs.   1. How big is my website? Websites can vary from a few simple pages to huge sites with hundreds of pages and a complicated infrastructure to keep it all organized. Larger, more complicated websites will have different hosting needs than smaller, simpler ones. Think carefully about how large and involved your website is now, and what reasonable expectations you have for growth in the coming years.   2. How secure does it need to be? You don’t want to get hacked; so all websites will need some security. But any website that collects information from visitors needs to be extra secure, especially if you plan to make sales through the site. If customers will be trusting you with credit card information, you need to earn that trust by making sure your website provides adequate security .   3. Will I be selling products through the website? An e-commerce website needs to include the functionality for people to select products and make purchases. If achieving sales will be a goal of your website, then look for a web hosting provider that provides the right level of functionality and security to accomplish that, and that’s compatible with the e-commerce software you intend to use.   4. How much traffic do I expect to get? While guessing at potential traffic isn’t an exact science, you can probably make some informed assumptions. If you’re building an entirely new website, then you should expect to only get a little bit of traffic early on, unless you have a sizeable brand reputation already. If you have an already existing website, then you can look at your analytics so far to make an educated guess at what to expect moving forward.   5. How fast do I want it to load? Visitors expect websites to load fast. If they have to wait to see what you have to offer, they probably won’t bother. For that reason, you’ll want web hosting that enables your website to work quickly. Larger websites that receive more traffic will need a different level of hosting power to provide that than new websites with a limited audience.   6. How experienced am I at running a website? Are you figuring it out as you go along, or have you been building and running websites for years? If you’ll need a lot of help and handholding, then a web hosting company with strong customer support and beginner’s resources will be worth it. If you know the ropes already, then you may want to prioritize factors like software compatibility, customization options, and scalability over ease of use and support.   7. Will I be hiring a designer or putting it together myself? If you’re throwing together a basic site on your own, then you’ll be glad to have access to templates or a website builder to make the process easier. If you’ll be hiring a professional designer to put the website together for you , then you’ll want to check with them about any compatibility issues to be aware of when choosing your web hosting platform.   8. Will I have a blog? If your website will include a blog, or primarily consist of a blog, then you’ll want to consider which blogging platform you want to go with and make sure your hosting package is well suited to work with it.   9. How much customization do I want? With many more affordable shared plans, there are some limitations on what you can do with your website. For most website owners, it won’t be anything that affects what you want to be able to create and accomplish, but for some who want to be able to do website development entirely on their own terms (and have the skills to do so), considering VPS plans or a dedicated server will make that possible.   10. Will I need more than one domain? A lot of website owners have an array of business or website ideas they want to explore at some point. If that sounds like you, then getting a web hosting plan that covers more than one domain will pay off. In addition, if you want to make sure your register all the domains someone looking for your brand name might try (so you can direct them all back to your website), you’ll need a plan that allows multiple parked domains (all HostGator Baby and Business plans come with unlimited domains, by the way).   5 Things Any Web Hosting Plan You Consider Should Offer No matter what your unique needs are, there are five things every website owner should insist on in a web hosting package.   1. A reliable server You want to know with confidence that anytime someone tries to navigate to your website, they’ll see the site you designed. Otherwise, what are you paying for? Good web hosting providers promise high levels of uptime (the amount of time your website is live). If a provider you’re considering doesn’t promise at least 99% uptime, then you’ll be better off looking elsewhere. Note: All HostGator plans provide 99.9% uptime – even independent reviewers have confirmed how consistent the performance is. If you want to make sure people see your site every time they go looking for it, our plans are worth a look.   2. Compatibility with your web design needs Whether you need an easy way to design a website yourself, or your developer is pushing for something that works with WordPress, PHP, Ruby on Rails, or some other specific website software, your web hosting package needs to work with what you’re using.   3. Ability to handle the amount of traffic you receive For most new websites, this part isn’t hard – it takes some time to build up traffic and shared hosting accounts can manage in the realm of 30,000-40,000 monthly visitors without much issue. But if you anticipate more traffic than that, you’ll need to consider splurging for a higher-level plan that can accommodate those higher numbers.   4. Cost you can afford You can only invest in what you can afford. Have a general idea of your budget going into your search. Shared hosting plans are good enough for a lot of website needs and are typically very affordable – just a few bucks a month. More expensive plans offer more features, more customization options, or better bandwidth and speed for higher levels of traffic. There’s no need to pay for all that if you don’t need it, but if you do, the extra cost will be worth it. You can keep an eye out for good signup deals, but make sure you know what the ongoing costs will be. You must be able to afford the monthly or yearly fee once the signup deal has worn off.   5. Q uality, accessible customer service Whether you’re a newbie who could use the help of a human to walk you through the basic processes of setting up your website or you’re a veteran web designer who just needs to be able to get someone on the phone immediately when there’s a problem, you want to know the customer support will be there when you need it. No matter the type of website you launch or hosting package you go with, research the reputation the provider has for customer service.   Match Your Needs to Your Options Now that you’ve identified some of the main things you should look for in a web hosting package, here’s a basic rundown of some of your main options to help you match what you need to what’s out there.   The Different Types of Hosting Want to share our web hosting infographic? Click to enlarge. You can get a more detailed explanation of how different web hosting plans work here , but here are the main categories to be aware of and who they’re usually for.   Shared Hosting Shared hosting is the best option for new website owners that are just starting out. If you want an easy, affordable plan that will work for a smaller website with moderate traffic, shared hosting will do the trick. And if you choose a web hosting provider that offers some of the other types of plans on the list, upgrading down the line if or when your website grows will be easy.   Cloud Hosting Cloud hosting is another affordable option, but one that offers impressive speed. If you want to be extra sure that people who visit your site will see fast load times – particularly if you have a lot on your site that could slow the load time, like high res images or videos – then this is a good option. The main reason to go with cloud hosting is for affordable speed, but it also offers easier maintenance and better response to sudden spikes in traffic.   VPS Hosting For websites that are getting bigger and growing their visitor numbers, VPS hosting is a step up from shared hosting in terms of the amount of traffic and storage it can handle. You’re not sharing a server with as many other websites, so your website can take advantage of a bigger share of the bandwidth. And for web developers looking for more customization options, VPS puts those possibilities into your hands.   WordP ress Hosting Many websites that include blogs are built on WordPress, as the platform is designed specifically for blogging and has an intuitive back-end that makes it easy for website owners of all skill levels to make changes. For any website built on WordPress, a managed WordPress hosting plan can supply you with all the features you need for your website to run smoothly.   Dedicated Server For websites that anticipate having lots of traffic and needing a significant amount of storage space, your safest bet is to go with a dedicated server . This option ensures your website will keep going strong no matter how many unique visitors you get or how many gigabytes of storage you load to the site. It also allows for any customization options your developer could need. It does cost the most, but it also offers the most.   Additional Features To Consider Deciding on the type of hosting you need is a big step, but there are a number of additional features to consider based on the needs you defined: Website builder – Some web hosting packages either include a website builder as part of the package, or as an extra add-on you can buy. If you’re building your first website and want to save money on hiring a designer, this offers an easy way to do it yourself without having to learn to code. E-commerce features – If you’ll be selling products on your website, then you’ll need the functionality to allow people to add items to a shopping cart, check out, and ensure the whole process is secure. You need a web hosting platform that offers e-commerce features or is compatible with e-commerce software that does. Software compatibility – In general, you need to make sure that any web hosting package you consider will be compatible with the software you’ll be using for web design and e-commerce. SSL – E-commerce websites or any other type of site that will collect personal information from visitors should have SSL for protection. This feature encrypts all sensitive information you share through your website. It comes with many web hosting packages and can be bought as an add-on for many others. Easy migration – If you’re moving your website from one provider to another, you want the process to be simple. Web hosting providers that make the migration process easy and offer any support you need to get it done will make your life easier. Tutorials and other educational materials – If you’re new to running a website, access to educational resources will make a big difference to finding your way around the process. Many web hosting platforms will offer helpful tutorials and articles as well as customer support to help you get set up. Easy to use control panel – While those resources are good to have, not needing them is even better. An intuitive control panel can cut down on how much you need to learn in order to work with your website effectively.   Site backup – Nobody wants to lose everything they’ve worked on in a moment. Just like you backup your work, you should backup your website. Some web hosting packages include automatic backups so you never have to worry about losing everything. Others let you purchase automatic backup services on top of the cost of your plan. This option can give you peace of mind and save you in a pinch.   Conclusion There’s a lot to consider when choosing your web hosting plan. Knowing the basics of what to look for will make your selection easier. If you could still use more information to help you make a decision, our hosting experts are on hand to answer any questions . Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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Using a Cloud Host for Business Continuity

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Hosting

Originally, many organizations elected to host their own websites, applications and other processes due to cost or other reasons. Now, with the expansion of cloud computing and this type of distributed environment, IT managers are beginning to rethink their workload delivery methodology. There are clear benefits to working with a cloud hosting provider – especially from a disaster recovery and resiliency perspective. Continue reading →

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Google Says Cold Storage Doesn’t Have to Be Cold All the Time

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Hosting

Google has introduced a low-cost cold storage service called Cloud Storage Nearline. This type of cloud storage is meant for less-frequently accessed data, and Google’s service costs about a penny per gigabyte of data at rest. Continue reading →

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