If your business is looking to get on page 1 of Google and you don’t have an SSL… chances are, it won’t happen!
Google has been flagging websites that are not secure with an SSL (HTTPS aka the lock on the left side of your URL) and will continue to knock those off of the SERPS. Obtaining an SSL can be a simple and painless process.
There are multiple ways you can get an SSL, rather if it’s a paid version from your Hosting Provider or if it's a free “Let’s Encrypt” SSL that’s added. We won’t go into detail about what the difference is between getting a paid or a free SSL but we will dive into how you can add one to your WordPress website using SiteGround Hosting.
Let’s get started on this SiteGround SSL!
After you log into your SiteGround account with your Username and Password you will be taken to a screen similar to the one in the photo below.
You will select ‘Websites’ from the top navigation.
Once you have chosen ‘Websites’ from the previous screen, you will be taken to a new screen displaying a list of your current websites under your hosting account.
You will choose ‘Add New Site’ if you have not yet added your website to your hosting account. In that case, go through the steps to add the website (after you choose ‘Add New site’, SiteGround will walk you through adding your WordPress website.
If you see your website already listed then your next step is to hit the ‘Site Tools’ button which is listed inside of your website (See Image Below)
After selecting ‘Site Tools’, you will be taken to a screen that looks like the following :
The 2 widgets you want to look for are HTTPS Enforce & SSL Manager (Highlighted in the image above).
Once you select the SSL Manager you should now see a screen similar to the one below :
Make sure your domain is selected and then in the dropdown menu next to it you want to select the ‘Let’s Encrypt’ SSL and then proceed with the ‘GET’ button
The last and final step is to enforce the SSL and this is done in the same dashboard you are currently in from the preceding step.
At the bottom under ‘Manage SSL’ you will see a column titled ‘Actions’. Click the icon with the 3 dots and choose enforce SSL.
That’s it! You just added your SSL on your SiteGround WordPress website. You should now see your URL reflecting your adding of the SSL.
We hope you enjoyed our walkthrough on this, if so please show support by sharing the article with a friend who might be in need of some assistance on adding an SSL to their site.
Looking to obtain a fresh new website along with your SSL on your website? No problem, KC Web Designz will create a great experience for you and your clients by making you a lead-generating website secured with an SSL.
Are you looking to start a new WordPress Website? Or maybe you already have a WordPress Website. There are so many plugins in the repository that allow for different functionality on your website. With that being said, how do you know which are the right ones to choose from? We have handpicked what we believe to be the best WordPress Plugins. These plugins should go on every one of your sites no matter what the purpose of your website is.
Let’s get started!
Google Analytics - This plugin definitely comes first in all WordPress Installs. It is very important to be able to track what's going on with your website. I mean how can you make adjustments if you don't know where to make those adjustments, right?
Google Analytics comes equipped with a dashboard that is on the main admin page of your site once logged into your backend. Your able to see most of the things that you can see when logged into your actual analytics account which is why it's really good. It has settings that allow you to see Real-Time Stats as well as select a date range and see what happened in those dates selected. From how many sessions to how many views you were able to get as well as the bounce rate.
Yoast SEO - With SEO being the most important part of any web build, you can only imagine how popular these plugins are within WordPress. Although there are a couple of different known SEO plugins, we feel personally that Yoast has done an outstanding job with what they have created. It’s a free plugin and does have an extended version (Paid) that offers a few more features. For getting basic SEO needs completed, the free version does well.
One thing that's helpful with this plugin is that it’s good for those who don’t know a lot about SEO. Yoast will tell you exactly what you need to do in order to get a ‘Green Light’ (Good SEO Score). Don’t worry if there are things that it asks you to do and your not sure how to accomplish them. Yoast has a link to their site to explain everything in more detail.
All-In-One Migration - The All-In-One Migration is definitely a must-have on a website. One of the main things that come in handy with this plugin is the option to backup your WordPress Website. We all know how important having a backup on your website can be, and this plugin makes it extremely simple to do just that.
Once installed you will have a new custom field on the admin bar back in your dashboard, hover over it and hit the export button. There are multiple options to export your site but the most common would be ‘File’. It will then export your site as well as the database into a ‘WPRESS’ File, in which you can later import this if need be.
WP Fastest Cache - This is also one of my favorite plugins as it ensures your visitors are getting the most up-to-date version of your site each time it's loaded up. This, of course, helps with your website speed making things load a lot faster each and every time.
It comes equipped with a toolbar on the top of your screen as well as a custom field on the left-hand side on the dashboard. From the dashboard select the field on the left side. You will be taken to a screen in which you can select to clear the cache from the entire site. You also have the option to clear any minified JS and CSS files.
Gravity Forms - Almost all websites have some type of form on them, rather it's just capturing emails or grabbing all contact info from your visitors. After using a few different ones some time ago, I’ve found Gravity Forms to be the best one. It has so many things you can do with it besides just creating a form.
If a cost calculator is something you may need on your site, then this could be your all in one solution. One great feature this plugin has is the ability to see every form submission. It has its own database that saves all your submissions to and you can then later go and review that information.
If you have multiple forms you can select the desired form and then review all submissions for that specific form. Have you ever needed an address field? There is an addon that allows the address to be pre-populated. The user won't be able to enter an incorrect address as its pre-populated by google.
Though there are plenty of Plugins that your site can have to add different functionality. These plugins tend to be on every site that we build, no matter what type of site it is.
Let us know what plugins you tend to use on all your websites!
Choosing the best WordPress Hosting Provider can be a difficult task with all the hosting providers out there today. So many of them offer so many different things and some of the things they offer, you may not even know what they mean.
This is why we have put together a list of 3 things you can do to make this an easier process for you.
Managed Hosting vs Shared Hosting is the first thing that would be a good idea to look at. When you have a provider who is offering Shared Hosting Services, this simply put, means that you will share space with other users across the globe who have that same hosting package. Just from that alone, you can see where the troubles ahead would lay. This could potentially harm your website by causing slow website speeds, which would definitely scare visitors away.
If you plan on having high traffic to your website then, of course, this would not be the best option. Plenty tend to go this route for cost reasons which can be understandable to a certain degree. We’ve all heard the saying “You get what you pay for”. This is definitely the case with this type of hosting service. Its almost always better to go for the service that may cost a bit more but will do exactly what you need it to do.
Well, what would be the reasons for using Shared Hosting you may ask? Let’s discuss a few reasons on why Shared Hosting my actually be beneficial for you and your business.
This would be a great option for small business owners or entrepreneurs who have small websites that may be used to display information about them or their business. This would also be a good option for a site that you make as just a hobby. These sites typically will not require tons of space and would give you the opportunity to play around with building sites at no extra cost vs a managed hosting account in which you are limited to the number of sites that you create.
Managed WordPress Hosting, on the other hand, takes a lot of weight off of your shoulders. It can be considered a type of SERVICE more so than a type of Hosting Plan. There can be a few benefits from choosing this type of service so let's take a look at a few of those :
You can view Shared Hosting as a fast-food restaurant while Managed Hosting would be a 5-Star Restaurant. The 5-Star Restaurant is going to be costly but trust that they will lay out the red carpet for you so to speak. You are paying for an experience.
This is probably one of the most important things you can do when choosing a WordPress Hosting Provider. Once you find one that you are wanting to purchase, find their customer service number and give them a call.
When you are calling them you are looking for a few things:
This one may seem obvious but another key thing to do is compare between 2 or multiple choices that you have found. You want to be sure to see who offers the most at the best price. There may be things that one offers that another one doesn’t. There also may be things that are offered by one hosting provider that doesn’t really fit your business needs. Do they have a referral program that could potentially save you money in the long run? Do they offer unlimited SSL’s for all the sites you host with them? These are just a few of the questions you can ask yourself along with a representative at their customer service number.
These are just a few key things that we find can be helpful when looking to purchase a new WordPress Hosting Service and we hope these can assist you in your search 🙂
