Tag Archives: your-site

HTTPS for WordPress: Why and How to Add It To Your Site

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Hosting

The post HTTPS for WordPress: Why and How to Add It To Your Site appeared first on HostGator Blog . HTTPS for Your WordPress Site Switching your site over to HTTPS is important in a lot of ways. It’ll not only improve your search engine rankings, but it’ll encrypt any data that’s being transferred from your user’s browser to your server. Overall, you’ll improve your site’s security, trustworthiness, and make your website look good in the eyes of Google. Below we’ll look at why you’ll want to add HTTPS to your WordPress site and offer a series of steps to help simplify the process.   What is HTTPS? You’ve probably heard of HTTPS, but you’re still not quite sure what it is. For starters, it’s readily visible on most larger websites. You’ll see that their URLs start with “https://“ instead of the standard “http://“. It also includes a small padlock next to the URL as well, which means the site is secure. HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure and utilizes an SSL certification to establish a secure connection between a user’s web browser and your server. Any information that gets exchanged over this connection is encrypted. This data encryption makes it much more difficult for people to read, or translate, any of the information that might get intercepted over the connection.   How HTTPS Can Benefit Your WordPress Site You aren’t required to move your site to HTTPS, but it does come with some benefits that might make switching a good idea. Secures sensitive information. If your site handles credit card information or other potentially compromising information, then moving your site to HTTPS is a necessity. Makes your site trustworthy. Moving to HTTPS will not only secure the transfer of information, but it will help make users feel safe and trust that your website is authentic, and you’re actually who you claim to be. Improves your SEO. Having an SSL certificate is a Google ranking factor. It probably won’t give your rankings a huge push, but when it comes to SEO every bit helps. It seems that HTTPS is going to be the future of the web. By moving to HTTPS sooner rather than later will help to establish you as the go-to authority in your space, instead of merely waiting and playing catch up. How to Move Your WordPress Site to HTTPS Moving your current WordPress site to HTTPS is pretty straightforward. All you need is an SSL certificate, a host that supports SSL (like HostGator!) , and a few plugins to help with URL migration. Below we outline the steps you need to take to move your site from HTTP to HTTPS.   1. Install Your SSL Certificate The first thing you’ll need to make the switch to HTTPS is an SSL certificate. Your host may provide one for free with your hosting package, or you might be able to purchase or get a free SSL certificate through them. If not, a solid choice is Let’s Encrypt . They’re one of the most popular SSL certificate providers. However, before you purchase an SSL certificate from a third-party source make sure that it’s supported by your host. The process of installing the SSL certificate will depend upon your host, but if your host is using the standard cPanel, then you can install the certificate through your dashboard. 2. Move Your URLs to HTTPS To complete the installation there are a few issues you’ll need to fix. Namely, you’ll need to migrate any internal URLs and links to HTTPS instead of HTTP. One of the easiest ways to do this is to install a plugin called Really Simple SSL . This plugin will update the URL of your site within your site settings and it’ll add a 301 redirect from all the HTTP pages and media to the new HTTPS URL. All you have to do is install and activate this plugin and it’ll get to work adjusting your site’s settings.   3. Verify Your Certificate is Active With your certificate installed and the Really Simple SSL plugin active, it’s time to verify that everything you did actually worked. To check your site open up your web browser and type in the HTTP version of your website. You should then see this redirect to the HTTPS version of your site. Your new URL should have a green padlock next to it and your URL will read “https://“. Finally, the last thing you’ll want to do is update any offsite link to your new HTTPS URL. The redirect plugin above will take care of this for you. But, you’ll want to adjust any of the links that are in your direct control,   such as your social media profiles.   Moving your site from HTTP to HTTPS can be very advantageous. Hopefully, the post above has helped you understand what HTTPS actually is, and how you can move your WordPress site to HTTPS. HostGator customers can add SSL certificates to their site here. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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Does the Type of Web Hosting You Choose Affect Your SEO?

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Hosting

The post Does the Type of Web Hosting You Choose Affect Your SEO? appeared first on HostGator Blog . Can Your Web Hosting Plan Affect SEO? When it comes to SEO, the details matter a lot. One of those details that’s commonly neglected is your choice of web host. Usually, it’s the last thing that people think about. However, the type of hosting you’re using can have a big impact on your rankings. The extent of the impact will depend on the size of your site and its overall traffic levels, but your host is either supporting or damaging your rankings. Obviously, you want a host that does the former. Below you’ll learn how your host affects your search engine rankings, and how to choose a hosting environment that will actually support your rankings. 5 Ways Your Web Host Affects Your Rankings The type of web hosting you choose can either help or hurt your rankings. Below we cover five different ways your choice of host can affect your SEO.   1. Site Speed Is a Ranking Factor The faster your site loads the better your site will rank in the search engines . Now, just having a fast loading site isn’t enough to push your site to page one. But, if you already have solid onsite and offsite SEO and you boost your site speed you will start to see your rankings climb. Having a slow loading host will lead to a poor user experience since they’ll be sitting and staring at a blank screen. Poor user experience leads to poor metrics, like a high bounce rate , and a very low time on site, both of which will push your rankings down.   2. Data Loss = Rankings Loss No one likes to think about it, but there is a chance that your site will face a disaster. Whether it’s getting your site hacked , a catastrophe at your host’s datacenter, or unintended site data loss, it can happen. To protect your site and your rankings from data loss you need to have some kind of backup system. A high-quality host will have a backup system in place that will help you quickly recover from any of the above scenarios. HostGator customers, learn more about protecting your site with CodeGuard.   3. SSL Certificate Improves Rankings Trust is huge online. If your site doesn’t seem trustworthy , then Google won’t trust you and you’ll have a hard time ranking. The same goes for your visitors. If your visitors don’t trust you, then they probably won’t purchase anything from you, or stay with your brand over the long-term. One easy way to improve your trust is to install an SSL certificate on your site . An SSL certificate will encrypt the connection between your server and your user’s web browser. This will allow for the secure exchange of personal information. But beyond making your visitors feel safe an SSL certificate will also help your site improve its rankings. Since 2014 Google has acknowledged that SSL certificates are a ranking factor .   4. Uptime Matters No host can guarantee 100% uptime, but the better your host, the higher uptime your site will have. If you’ve been experiencing high levels of downtime, then it’s probably time to think about switching your hosting environment. Learn more about HostGator’s 99.9% uptime guarantee! Having your site down shouldn’t affect rankings too much, but it can have a negative impact on your user experience. If a person tries to visit your site time and time again and your site is offline, they simply won’t come back. This can have a negative impact on your bounce rate and your CTR from the search engines.   5. Server Location and Performance Another factor that influences the performance of your site is the location of your physical server. Now this will depend on what kind of hosting you’re actually using. For example, if you’re using cloud hosting it won’t be a factor. But, if you’re using shared, VPS, or a dedicated server, then the farther your visitors are from the physical location of your server the slower your site will load. However, if you have a high-quality host this will be offset through an integrated CDN and a high performing server environment.   How to Choose an SEO Friendly Host An SEO-friendly host will look different depending on the kind of site you run and how much traffic you receive. There is no perfect hosting choice for every style of website. For example, if you have a small site that doesn’t receive a lot of traffic, then a solid shared host will be enough to support your site. But, if you receive hundreds of thousands of visitors per month, then using a shared host will probably have a negative impact on your site’s performance and rankings. In that case upgrading to a VPS , cloud, or dedicated host would be the best course of action. In order to find the best SEO-friendly host, evaluate your hosting choices with the factors below: Does the host have a high benchmark of performance? If you’re unsure, spend some time checking out user reviews online. Does your host include an automated backup system or use a third-party plugin? Do you have the ability to install or purchase an SSL certificate for your site? Does your host guarantee a high site uptime? Is there data, or a guarantee to back it up? Can you choose your datacenter location? Or, does you hosting include an integrated or third-party CDN? Going through the above questions will help you find a high-performing host that’ll actually support your rankings, not bury your site in the search results. Overall, your host can have a big impact on your SEO. If your site hasn’t been ranking as high as you think it should, then your hosting environment could be the culprit. There’s a reason people consistently choose HostGator web hosting. Learn more about our award-winning hosting by reading real reviews from our customers! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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What Is a Managed WordPress Site?

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Hosting

The post What Is a Managed WordPress Site? appeared first on HostGator Blog . What Is a Managed WordPress Site? A managed WordPress site is one that’s hosted on a managed WordPress host. Essentially, you’ll be outsourcing the hosting of your site to a team of WordPress experts. If you run a high-traffic WordPress site, then going with a WordPress managed host could be a great option for you. Below we explore what managed WordPress hosting is, and the benefits it can offer your site, so you can determine if it’s time for you to switch up to WordPress managed hosting. What Is Managed WordPress Hosting? Managed WordPress hosting is a streamlined hosting environment that’s optimized to help you build and run WordPress websites. The goal of this style of hosting is to ensure your site is running at peak performance, with high levels of security. A managed host will also take care of general administrative tasks like updating your site, maintaining security, and monitoring traffic levels. By hosting your site on a managed WordPress host you’re effectively outsourcing your hosting to a third-party of experts, so you can focus on growing your site instead.   The Benefits of WordPress Managed Hosting Having a managed WordPress site just requires a switch to managed WordPress hosting. Below we explore the main benefits your site will receive when you make the jump to a managed hosting environment.   1. Improved Speed and Performance When you utilize a WordPress managed server everything to do with the server environment will be optimized to get the most out of WordPress. That includes the server configuration, the hardware, the software, and the databases. Your WordPress site can become slow for a variety of reasons, whether onsite or having to do with your server environment. With regular monitoring, the team behind your site will be able to diagnose and solve any performance issues before they become a problem.   2. Easier to Scale Your Site If your site prepared for when an post goes viral, or you get featured by a major media outlet? Most sites will fail when they receive a large spike in traffic. Instead of visitors seeing the article or homepage, they’ll get nothing more than an error message . Managed WordPress hosts are built to scale. With traffic monitoring features the team behind your site will be able to scale your site’s resources at a moments notice to handle the flood of traffic.   3. Greater Levels of Security Most people don’t want to admit it, but there’s a chance your site could be hacked. Security is typically the farthest thing from people’s minds. Why would somebody want to hack my site? The last thing you want is to wake up one morning and realize your site’s been hacked. Then, you have to go through the process of fixing your site, which can be a real headache if you don’t have solid technical skills. With a managed WordPress host your server environment will be much more secure. Plus, since they’re WordPress experts they’ll be well aware of any common security holes and vulnerabilities and be able to patch the issues effectively.   4. An Expert Support Team Behind You A lot of support teams will only be able to help you with the actual server hardware when something goes wrong. So, if the issue is with your site, then you’re left on your own, having to search through Google looking for the magic fix . A managed WordPress host will not only be able to diagnose and solve server and hardware issues for you. But, they’re also staffed by a team of WordPress experts that will be able to help you troubleshoot any issues that might arise. And of course, the goal of a solid managed WordPress host is to help you avoid experiencing any site issues in the first place.   5. Automated Website Backups and Updates Backing up your website is incredibly important , but usually, it falls by the wayside if you have to figure it out yourself. However, with a WordPress managed host your site will be backed up automatically. The frequency of the backup will depend upon your host, but usually, it’s on a daily or weekly basis. Beyond backups the other task you’ll have to take care of yourself is updating your WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Failing to update these in a timely manner will make your site more vulnerable to attacks. Luckily, with WordPress managed hosting all of your updates will be handled automatically. Whether or not your plugins will be updated as well depends on the host.   Is Managed WordPress Hosting Right For Your Site? Managed WordPress hosting gives you the freedom and time to focus on growing your site, not managing your hosting. If you’re running a high traffic WordPress site and you want to improve its performance and security without any added work on your end, then WordPress managed hosting is an option worth considering. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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[US/UK/Canada/Spain EU] – $5/Year – CloudLinux 2GB RAM – SSD +2FA +New Server +Backup -Dewlance®

Posted on March 3, 2018 by Hosting

Thousands of customers trust on our company, Get IPv6 Ready Shared Hosting and go to next level, Improve your site SEO and accessibility. Mu… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1699729&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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SSD Hosting | UK Support | Top Quality Servers | £2.50 p/m

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Hosting

Tech-Hosts provide high quality web hosting services at competitive prices. We make the process of setting up your site as easy as possible … | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1690537&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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