Is It Easy to Change Your Domain Name?

In most cases, changing your domain is very easy. But just because it’s easy doesn’t mean you should change it any time you want.

Think of your primary domain name as your home or primary address. When you move, you have to change your address with your bank, in your Amazon account, etc. It’s easy, but there are steps you have to take.

The same is true of changing your domain. Your visitors, and perhaps more importantly search engines, know you “live” at that address. So if you want to change your domain, you need to up everyone – especially Google.

Changing your domain name is generally straightforward, but it does require some planning. Otherwise, you can disrupt your site traffic and search engine rankings. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s involved:

• Register the New Domain: Purchase a new domain that aligns with your brand or the new focus of your website.
• Update Domain Settings: Point the new domain to your website by updating the DNS settings. This may take some time to propagate across the web, typically 24-48 hours.
• 301 Redirects: Set up 301 redirects from your previous domain to your new one. The redirects will make sure visitors and search engines find your new domain, preserving your search rankings and web traffic.
• Update Search Engine and Analytics Settings: In Google Search Console and other webmaster tools, change the primary domain to your new one to keep analytics and SEO tracking accurate.
• Update URLs, Branding, and Links: Update internal links, images, and any references to your old domain on your site. Additionally, check and update links on your social media platforms and update backlinks from other sites where possible.

If you’re hosting with A2 Hosting, our 24/7/365 in-house Guru Crew support team can help streamline this process.

Is It a Good Idea to Change a Domain?

Just because changing your domain is simple doesn’t mean it’s always a good idea. You should never change your domain on a whim.

Not only can that negatively impact your search rankings, but it can confuse visitors and impact traffic. If you are selling goods or services, switching domains can even impact sales.

Here are some good reasons for changing domains:

• Rebranding: If you are changing your name, expanding services, or shifting the focus of your site, a new and more memorable domain may resonate with your target audience.
• Improving Brand Recognition: A simpler, memorable, or keyword-focused domain can make your website easier to find and remember, improving traffic and conversions.
• Expanding Beyond Initial Offerings: If you are expanding your focus, a more general domain may align with a broader product or service range.
• Improving SEO: Domains that include relevant keywords or a geographic location can boost SEO efforts and search visibility, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
• Correcting a Poor Reputation or Legacy Issues: If a website has a history of spammy links, penalties, or a negative reputation, a new domain may help start with a cleaner slate and improve search engine rankings.
• Ensuring Mobile and International Accessibility: Domains that are short and easy to spell are more accessible, especially for mobile users or international visitors. Switching to a shorter, simpler domain can improve user experience across all devices.
• Upgrading to a Better TLD (Top-Level Domain): Switching from a lesser-known TLD (e.g., .info, .biz) to a more common one (like .com) can build trust and authority, as users are often more familiar with popular TLDs.
• Addressing Unintuitive Domains: If your current domain is easily misspelled, overly complex, or unrelated to your brand, a change can reduce errors and make it easier for users to type it correctly.

How Do I Change My Domain Name Without Losing Traffic?

Understandably, losing users is one of the biggest fears when considering changing our website domain.

It takes a long time to build a brand and cultivate a growing crowd of enthusiastic users. So, consider any change that can interrupt that hard work carefully.

The following steps explain how to change your website domain without confusing or losing visitors or impacting conversions.

Step #1: Choose a New Domain Name

There are a lot of options when it comes to domains, so picking the right one can be tricky.

Consider your options carefully and think about how that change will impact your website, search rankings, and how your visitors perceive the new name.

Here are some tips for choosing a domain name. When you’re ready, you can register your new domain through our platform.

Need help choosing a domain name? Our guide has tips to make picking an effective domain name easy.

Once you decide, you can register your domain with A2 Hosting, a domain registrar, or other places. For the best place to buy, see our where to buy a domain guide.

Step #2: Update Your Domain Name Settings

Updating your domain settings or DNS may sound scary, but it’s actually very easy. If you registered your domain when setting up your hosting, you can easily link them through your account control panel.

If you registered the new primary domain separately from your hosting, it’s a little more work. But don’t worry, it’s just a simple copy and paste.

Log into your hosting account and find the nameservers for your provider. These typically look something like:

ns1.yourhostingcompany.com

ns2.yourhostingcompany.com

For example, A2 Hosting’s nameservers are:

ns1.a2hosting.com

ns2.a2hosting.com

Once you have those, you need to enter them into your domain account. Paste your hosting provider’s nameservers into the DNS settings, then save the changes.

While domain updates can take a little as just a few minutes, it usually takes between 24 and 48 hours to propagate across the Internet.

Step #3: Redirect Traffic to Your New Domain

Arguably the most important step when changing your domain name is to redirect users from the old one to the new one. This prevents you from losing any regular visitors or those who’ve bookmarked your previous address.

Most web hosts (including A2 Hosting) enable you to do this from your cPanel. Just look for the icon that says Redirects under the Domains section of your cPanel and click on it.

Once you’re in the Redirects page, pick the option that reads Permanent (301) and the domain you want to redirect.

Next, type the URL of the new domain you registered, and enable the setting that says Redirect with or without www:

Once you click the Add button, you’re ready to go! Now, every time someone visits your old domain, they’ll be sent to your new one. We recommend keeping both of them active until traffic on your former domain falls to a very low level.

Step #4: Update Search Engines and Analytics

Next, you should update your domain in search engines and analytics. For many, this means updating Google Search Console and Google Analytics.

While redirects will send visitors to your new site, not updating them with your new URL has some major drawbacks.

First, it can impact your SEO rankings. Updating your primary domain in the settings in Search Console ensures that your existing rankings transfer to your new site.

It’s also important for Google Analytics so you don’t lose historical data. This allows you to compare performance across time and maintain a consistent view of your website’s metrics.

These updates also help with other issues as well. You can see if your redirects are working and quickly find and fix 404 not found errors.

It also helps prevent Google from seeing old and new versions of your site and thinking they are duplicate content. That’s important because duplicate content can lead to lower search rankings.

Lastly, if you don’t update your domain, it can impact how traffic is recorded in Analytics. Instead of direct or organic traffic, it can appear as referral traffic from your old domain.

This might not matter too much for some sites, but it can have a huge impact if you regularly look at traffic sources.

Step #5: Update URLs and Branding

Lastly, you want to update URLs, links, and branding with your new domain name. While you do have redirects in place, you still should update as many things as possible.

Start by updating your site navigation, then move on to checking your page and blog content. Depending on the change, you may need to update your site logo, about content, or even your copyright notice.

Next, review advertisements, print materials like business cards, and social media links. If you are completely rebranding your company, consider a social media announcement or even a press release.

Another option is to announce the chance on your blog. This is not necessary for changes for a better mobile experience, better TLDs, or unintentional URL misspellings or confusion.

But it’s a good idea if you are rebranding or making changes to your focus or services. You may also want to share the news on social media in this case as well.

If you are renaming your company, you should contact existing customers via email to update them as well.

Frequently Asked Questions About Changing Your Domain URL

Here are some of the most asked questions about how to change your domain name.

How Long Does It Take to Change Your Primary Domain?

Registering a new domain and changing the DNS settings for your hosting only takes a few minutes, but the entire process can take longer in some cases.

Depending on your domain host and other factors, it can take 24 to 48 hours for the switch. Your previous domain still works during this period so you will not lose traffic or revenue during that step.

Most hosting platforms allow you to set up permanent redirects for your entire domain easily. But this takes a little time to configure depending on your technical skills.

Often the step that takes the longest is updating your branding. Depending on where your domain appears, it can mean making website updates or even reprinting marketing materials.

How Much Does It Cost to Change Your Domain Name?

The average cost of a new domain name ranges from $12 to $75 per year depending on a few different factors.

Often the biggest factor is the domain extension (.com, .org, etc.) you choose for your website. Top-Level Domains or TLDs, such as .com, .org, and .net are less expensive than Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) such as .blog or .tech.

Why? Because TLDs cover a broad range of sites, whereas gTLDs are aimed at particular industries.

Other factors that determine the total cost of changing a domain include registration fees, privacy protection fees, and the annual fee charged by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Well, now that you know how to change your website’s domain name, you can enjoy a smooth transition. The users who frequented your former website will now be able to visit your new one to see what you have to offer.

As a final note, it’s worth your time to consider all the pros and cons before you change your domain name. After all, it’s one of the core elements and primary identifiers of a website.

If you do decide to get the ball rolling, you can rest easy knowing it’s possible to make this change without disrupting your website’s traffic or hurting your brand’s identity. Just imagine. Changing your domain name could be the key that opens the door to a whole new crowd of users.

Will Changing My Domain Affect My SEO?

Yes, a domain change can impact SEO temporarily. To minimize this, set up 301 redirects from the old domain to the new one, update Google Search Console, and notify search engines of the change.

Rankings will usually drop shortly after making the change and take a few days up to a week to re-stabilize on the new domain. If you do not see your rankings return after a month, check Search Console and Analytics for errors.

Will I Lose Traffic After Changing My Domain?

Temporary traffic dips can occur due to DNS propagation and search engine updates. However, you should not see a sizable impact on your overall traffic as long as you set up 301 redirects and update Seach Console and Analytics. If you do see a significant change in traffic, review the steps above to make sure you didn’t accidentally overlook something.

Will My Email Addresses Change with the New Domain?

Yes, if you use domain-based emails (e.g., info@olddomain.com), you’ll need to update them with the new domain (e.g., info@newdomain.com). You also need to set up forwarding to ensure messages reach you. We recommend updating your emails and setting up the forwarding before switching the website DNS.

Is There Any Downtime When Changing a Domain Name?

For the most part, there shouldn’t be any significant downtime when changing your domain URL. In most cases, downtime or outages are temporary and short, usually lasting a few minutes at the most.

However, you can cause longer downtimes if you set up your redirects too early. Always wait at least 24 hours before putting redirects in place. This gives time for the new domain to propagate across the Internet.

Should I Keep My Old Domain After the Switch?

Yes, it’s a good idea to retain ownership of the original domain for at least a year. This allows you to redirect any lingering traffic. Another reason to keep your domain name after the switch is to prevent others from taking it.

Ready to register a new domain name? Looking to transfer you domain to your A2 Hosting account? Whether you are looking to bundle your services or change your domain, we make it easy to register, renew, and transfer any domain in minutes. Choose from popular TLDs or upgrade to sought after gTLDs that highlight your industry and make your brand more visible. Get started with a new domain today.

The post How Easy Is It to Change a Domain Name? appeared first on The A2 Posting.

What Is a CAPTCHA?

CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Tests To Tell Computers and Humans Apart, which certainly is a mouthful. They are a common web security tool to determine whether you are a human or a bot.

If you have signed up for a website or left a comment on a blog post at any time in the last 20 years, you have probably solved a CAPTCHA first. Early versions featured text on a messy background that was easy for humans to read, but very difficult for computers to detect.

These simple tests started appearing in the late 1990s and early 2000s, helping to prevent fraudulent website sign-ups. Most CAPTCHAs involve challenges like identifying distorted text, selecting images that match a description, or solving a simple puzzle. However, some can even detect if you are human based on your recent web activity.

CAPTCHAs are commonly used to prevent repeated and malicious signups or log-in attempts. Scammers use these bots to find potential security vulnerabilities that allow them to gain access to your website or even sensitive customer information.

CAPTCHAs also prevent bots from posting spam comments. At best, the comments are sales pitches for less than reputable web stores. However, these comments have increasingly been used to get your site visitors to go to malicious websites.

Should I Add CAPTCHA to My Website?

Not every website needs a CAPTCHA. If you don’t allow comments or use web forms, you don’t need one on your website. However, we recommend using one any time you allow visitors to post comments directly to your website or have any type of contact or sign-up form.

A CAPTCHA helps prevent spam and fraudulent form-fills. At best, these are a nuisance that wastes your time. And at worst, they malicious attempts to defraud you or your website visitors. They will reduce spam on your website and increase your website security by blocking bots.

If you allow customers to comment or sign-up for your website, there are several reasons you should use a CAPTCHA to increase your security:

1. Preventing Automated Attacks – CAPTCHAs help protect your website from automated attacks, such as brute-force login attempts, spamming, and data scraping. By adding this layer of security, you make it harder for bots to perform malicious activities.
2. Reducing Spam – Websites with forms for comments, registrations, or contact inquiries are common targets for spammers using bots. CAPTCHAs prevent bots from submitting spammy content, ensuring that only legitimate human users can interact with your site.
3. Protecting User Accounts – On sites that require user authentication, CAPTCHAs can help prevent bots from repeatedly attempting to guess passwords, thereby protecting user accounts from being compromised.
4. Preserving Server Resources – Bots can generate significant amounts of traffic, consuming server resources and potentially slowing down your website. By using CAPTCHAs, you can filter out non-human traffic, preserving bandwidth and reducing the load on your server.
5. Ensuring Data Integrity – For sites that collect data through forms, such as surveys or user feedback, CAPTCHAs help ensure that the data collected is genuine and submitted by real users, not bots.
6. Improving Overall Security – CAPTCHAs contribute to the overall security posture of a website by adding a layer of verification that can deter a variety of automated threats. This helps protect both the website and its users.

CAPTCHAs are a simple but effective tool for enhancing the security of your website, protecting it from automated threats, and ensuring that user interactions are genuine.

How to Integrate CAPTCHAs on Your Website In 3 Easy Steps

There are many different CAPTCHA solutions available. However, reCAPTCHA from Google is the most widely used option.

It has evolved from text-based CAPTCHAs to more user-friendly versions like “I’m not a robot” checkboxes, image-based challenges, and invisible reCAPTCHAs that don’t require any user interaction.

reCAPTCHA offers incredible security and is extremely easy to use. Plus, you can integrate it into your website in three easy steps:

1. Register your website on reCAPTCHA.
2. Add the reCAPTCHA script to your website.
3. Place the CAPTCHA on your site.

Yes, it really is that simple! Let’s look a little closer at those steps:

• Step #1: Register Your Website on reCAPTCHA

  To get started, visit Google’s reCAPTCHA site, then hit “v3 admin console” from the nav bar.

• 

•  

  On the next screen, you need to enter a label for your website so you can identify it among your reCAPTCHA properties. We recommend you use the website domain because it is easy to remember and limits confusion if you are using reCAPTCHA on multiple sites.

• 
•  

  The reCAPTCHA type is set to Score based (v3) automatically. This version automatically authenticates most users without them needing to do any verification by tracking their behavior. If it is unable to verify them automatically, they will get a challenge-based CAPTCHA. Because it is seamless for most users, we recommend leaving the type set to Score based.

• 

  If you change the type to Challenge (v2), you have the option of using either the “I’m not a robot” Checkbox or the Invisible reCAPTCHA badge. They offer the same level of protection but require more user interaction than the Score based (v3) reCAPTCHA.

  Then add your website domain.

  The last part of sign-up involves your Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Most users might not have an existing Google Cloud, so you will need to set one up, which is as simple as entering a name for your GCP project.

  The project name can be anything you want, but it only allows letters. You cannot use special characters or punctuation marks. While we recommend using the your domain name, you will need to remove the domain suffix. That’s the last part of the domain after the dot, for example, .com, .net, .org, and .gov.

  If you already have a GCP, it will appear below the project name field. In this case, we recommend that you use your domain name without the domain suffix and then reCAPTCHA to differentiate it from your other projects.

  Finally, check the box to agree to the terms of service and hit the submit button. On the next screen, you’ll receive both a Site Key and a Secret Key.

  For the purposes of this tutorial, we will only need the site key. So hit the COPY SITE KEY and let’s move on.

  Step #2: Add the reCAPTCHA Script to Your Website

  In order to display our CAPTCHA, we need to tinker with some code. More specifically, you need to insert the following line of code between your site’s <head> tags:

•  

  <script src='https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js'></script>

  You only need to add this code to pages you plan to use the CAPTCHA feature. reCAPTCHA will not work if you don’t include this code. If you are not using reCAPTCHA on a given page, you do not need to add the code there.

  Step #3: Place the CAPTCHA on Your Site

  To display our CAPTCHA, we’ll need to add one more line of code to our pages. More specifically, this particular line should be inserted wherever you want your CAPTCHA to appear:

  <div class="g-recaptcha" data-sitekey="Your site key goes here"></div>

  Note that the line includes a placeholder for your own reCAPTCHA Site Key, which we obtained during the first step. Paste it between the quotation marks and save your changes. Your CAPTCHA should be live now!

  Is Google’s ReCAPTCHA Free?

  Unless you get a ton of comments or signups every month, you can use reCAPTCHA on your site for free. When you sign up following the steps above, you are automatically enrolled in Google’s reCAPTCHA Essentials tier, which includes up to 10,000 free assessments per month.

  If you do need more, the Standard tier pricing is just $8 per month. The first 10,000 assessments are still free, with the additional fee covering reCAPTCHA assessments from 10,000 to 100,000.

  The Enterprise package covers over 100,000 assessments, with the first 100,000 costing $8 and each additional 1,000 costing $1.

  In most cases, small to medium-sized businesses will only ever need the Essentials tier. However, larger businesses will likely need to upgrade to the Standard or Enterprise tiers.

Hero image: madartzgraphics / Pixabay.

The post How to Implement a CAPTCHA Solution on Your Website appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Fortunately, there’s no shortage of CSS frameworks that can fast-track the design and development process. By opting for a framework, you can create standardized, higher-quality code, with less time and hassle.

In this post, we’ll discuss what CSS frameworks are and why you may want to consider using one for your next project. We’ll then share advice on how to find the framework that’s right for you, before exploring six popular CSS frameworks. Let’s get started!

An Introduction to CSS Frameworks

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) controls the presentation of a document that’s written in a markup language such as HTML. Unlike some other languages, CSS creates a separation between presentation and content. This gives you more flexibility in how you display your content.

This language also promotes code reuse, as multiple pages can use the formatting defined in a single CSS file. This can reduce complexity and repetition, while also improving your project’s performance, such as by reducing your website’s page loading times.

Many different systems use CSS. This includes WordPress themes, which uses CSS to output the data generated by this popular Content Management System (CMS). Every WordPress theme contains a single style.css file:

Although you can write pure CSS, many designers and developers choose to use a CSS framework. This is a collection of stylesheets that provide a basic structure and classes for common elements.

You can use these pre-prepared stylesheets as a reference for resolving problems of a similar nature. Alternatively, you can override the framework’s generic functionality for your specific use case.

There can be some confusion about when to use a framework, and when it makes more sense to opt for a library. With libraries, you control when this technology performs a particular function. The rest of your code exists independent from that library. However, with CSS frameworks the control flow is in the framework, and you’ll customize it in places to better suit your project.

Why You Might Want to Use a CSS Framework

CSS frameworks can reduce the amount of code you need to write. Instead of programming everything from scratch, these frameworks provide all the tools you need to spin up a basic UI.

You can then spend your time perfecting this interface to meet your project’s exact requirements. Since you’re not starting every project with a blank slate, you’ll have more time to focus on the specific features that make your site or app unique.

A CSS framework can also be useful for agencies and freelancers who manage multiple client sites. Using this tool, you can create a theme and then deploy it across countless websites. This can help you onboard new clients more quickly, and grow your business without drastically increasing your workload.

If you’re collaborating on a project with multiple people, a CSS framework can help you achieve consistency. For example, instead of each team member inventing their own class names, a CSS framework implements standardized naming conventions. This typically results in higher-quality code that’s easier to read and maintain.

When your code is consistent, you’ll also find it easier to onboard new team members or freelancers. It’s also worth remembering that just because your staff are happy in their role now doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll stick around forever.

It’s smart to ensure that even if your head developer leaves, your project can continue. To make sure your project is never wholly reliant on a single person, it’s a good idea to implement a standardized approach that’s clearly defined and understood by everyone. A framework can help you achieve this uniformity across your project.

Factors to Consider When Using a CSS Framework

A CSS framework can be a valuable addition to your project. However, if you have little previous experience with CSS, then it’s important to familiarize yourself with this language before jumping into the world of frameworks.

By taking the time to master pure CSS, you’ll be better equipped to identify issues with your syntax. When you know how to achieve the desired results in pure CSS, you’ll also find it easier to scan your framework’s documentation for the information you need. This can boost your efficiency, particularly when it comes to problem-solving and troubleshooting.

We always recommend taking some time to sharpen your CSS knowledge before you start shopping around for a suitable framework. Depending on your previous experience and knowledge, this may require a significant amount of time and effort.

A CSS framework will also add to your project’s overhead. Depending on your project, this may include lots of unnecessary or irrelevant code that you don’t even use. Bloat is never good, but it makes zero sense to increase your project’s size without adding any value.

Since your project exists inside the CSS framework, this may be limiting for your application or website. If you rely on a framework too heavily, there’s also the risk that your finished project will look similar to other sites and apps that use the same framework. This can make your project blur into the background, when it should be standing out from the crowd.

How to Choose the Right CSS Framework

To start, your chosen framework should meet all of your project’s technical requirements. It’s also smart to look for characteristics that make this framework a good fit for your project. For example, a lightweight framework may be the perfect addition to a mobile-focused design, but it may be less ideal for a large, complicated application.

Over time, your project’s requirements will likely change. Although it’s impossible to predict the future, it’s always worth considering how your project might develop over the long-term. Your chosen CSS framework should be able to support your site or application as it evolves over months, and potentially even years.

When choosing any technology, it’s always smart to consider its ease of use. Even if you’re fluent in CSS, learning any new technology requires a big upfront investment. Every moment that you spend familiarizing yourself with your new framework is time that you could have invested directly into your project.

Ideally, your chosen framework will be intuitive, user-friendly, and have a gentle learning curve. This will minimize the time between installing the framework and starting to reap the benefits. If a framework is user-friendly, then you’re also much less likely to encounter major issues, including stumbling blocks that require you to pause development in order to research the problem.

When considering ease of use, it’s important to find out what support is available. Ideally, the framework will be backed by official documentation, tutorials, and perhaps even professional support.

You should also consider the level of community resources available, including third-party blogs, forums, and social media sites. An active community can be an invaluable source of additional support. You could even put your questions directly to the community via channels such as Stack Overflow.

6 Popular CSS Frameworks (And When To Use Them)

With so many CSS frameworks to choose from, picking just one isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of the six most popular CSS frameworks. Along the way, we’ll help you make the right decision, by suggesting the kind of projects each framework is perfect for.

1. Bootstrap

Originally named Twitter Blueprint and developed as a tool for internal teams, Bootstrap has since grown into one of the most popular CSS frameworks. Today, Bootstrap is used by around 22 percent of all websites, and its GitHub consists of over 20,000 commits from more than 2000 contributors.

To get started, you can download Bootstrap’s source Sass and JavaScript files from either Composer, Meteor, or the Node Package Manager (npm). You can also use the npm template repository to quickly generate a Bootstrap project, or check out any of the official examples, that are supported by extensive documentation.

All of this makes Bootstrap a great choice for anyone who’s new to CSS frameworks, or has limited pure CSS experience. This may include back-end developers who want to make some changes to their projects’ User Interface (UI). For these designers, Bootstrap provides templates for all of the most popular UI components, including alerts, tabs, forms, and dropdowns.

Bootstrap is also designed for responsive, mobile-first front-end development. This makes it a good fit for mobile projects.

If you do require additional support, Bootstrap has a large and active community on Stack Overflow. You can also access real-time support via the Bootstrap Slack channel.

2. Foundation

Foundation is a front-end framework for building websites, applications, and emails. Thanks to its Sass compiler, the responsive Foundation framework is ideal for creating projects fast.

Foundation favors clean, semantic code and takes a mobile-first approach. After ensuring that your project is fully compatible with mobile devices, you can add in more complexity for a fully-responsive design.

Foundation provides HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which is great for rapidly prototyping websites. If you’re using Foundation to create emails, this framework provides tested patterns that work with all of the major email clients, including Outlook. This can help you create emails that display and function correctly, regardless of how the recipients choose to access them.

Despite its speed, Foundation is far from a limited framework, and many developers use it to create large applications. It’s also highly customizable, which makes Foundation a good choice for designers who want to create a unique experience for their end users, and who aren’t afraid to dig into Foundation’s more complex features in order to achieve the desired result.

Despite its current status as an open-source project, Foundation was originally maintained by ZURB. Today, ZURB continues to offer a full program of tutorials, online courses, custom training, and even an official Foundation certification.

3. Skeleton

The Skeleton framework is a small collection of CSS files that you can use to rapidly generate clean code and simple layouts. Coming in at under 400 lines of code, this bare-bones framework is a good fit for smaller projects, or projects that don’t require the utility of a larger, heavier solution.

As a lightweight framework, Skeleton shouldn’t add unnecessary bloat to your project, which can be particularly valuable for mobile designs. If you’re creating a mobile project, Skeleton has a well-structured grid that enables you to create a responsive layout with minimal hassle.

Skeleton provides a 12-column fluid grid with a maximum width of 960px. This grid shrinks according to the browser and device. However, if you need to alter the maximum width you can make that change with a single line of CSS.

Skeleton serves its scalable grid using media queries. It also provides a list of mobile-first queries for styling your project across multiple devices. All styles outside of a query apply to all devices, so larger devices are targeted for enhancement. This prevents small devices from having to parse large amounts of unnecessary CSS.

If you’re new to the world of CSS frameworks, Skeleton’s simplistic approach makes this a good framework for beginners. For CSS newcomers, it can even be a valuable learning tool before progressing to more complex and feature-rich frameworks.

Unlike some of the other CSS frameworks on this list, Skeleton is designed as a starting point that you can develop into something more substantial. It’s also worth noting that Skeleton’s lack of templates may become an issue if you try to use this framework in larger or more complex projects.

4. UIKit

UIKit is a responsive, lightweight CSS framework that you can use to create clean and professional-looking interfaces. This framework defines all the core components such as table views, buttons, labels, and navigation controllers.

UIKit is also extensible, and supports a comprehensive collection of advanced components that are not bundled with the core framework. This includes parallax girds, dynamic pagination, and sliders.

Alongside CSS files, UIKit provides an autocomplete package for Sublime Text and Atom editors. Since users don’t have to repeatedly look up UIKit markups and class names, this framework is great for your overall productivity.

Unlike other frameworks such as Bootstrap and Foundation, UIKit breaks the layout into three components: grid, flex, and width. Instead of restricting you to a 12-column grid setup, UIKit gives you the flexibility to create as many columns as you require.

Over at the UIKit website, you’ll find extensive official documentation and a series of video tutorials. Despite these useful learning resources, we find that UK Kit is a more complex framework that’s best suited to experienced developers.

5. Semantic UI

Semantic UI is a framework for creating responsive layouts. Based on natural language principles, Semantic UI aims to make code readable and easier to understand by creating a shared vocabulary around UI.

To achieve this, Semantic UI treats words and classes as interchangeable concepts. All classes are human words and use syntax from natural languages, including noun/modifier relationships and word order. Semantic UI also uses plurality to link concepts intuitively. As a result, its code often resembles regular text.

Human-readable code and ease of use makes Semantic UI a great choice for anyone who’s new to the world of frameworks. If you do have previous experience, it’s worth noting that Semantic UI integrates with React, Angular, Meteor, Ember, and various other frameworks.

In addition to the functionality you’d typically expect from a CSS framework, Semantic UI provides simplified debugging and performance logging. This enables you to track down bottlenecks without digging through stack traces. These added extras make Semantic UI suitable for larger projects, including enterprise apps and websites.

6. Pure

Built on Normalize.css, the Pure framework is a set of small, responsive CSS modules that provide layout and styling for native HTML elements. This includes many common UI components. Pure has a minimal and unopinionated design, so you should have no issues adding new CSS rules and overriding Pure.css with your own styles.

Coming in at 3.87B minified and gzipped, this is a simple, lightweight framework. If you only require a subset of Pure’s modules, you’ll save even more bandwidth. This makes Pure ideal for smaller projects, or any project that has modest requirements.

Its small footprint also means that Pure is a good choice for mobile projects, where you’re typically working with less memory. Even better, this framework is responsive out of the box, thanks to its use of Pure Grids and Vertical Menus. With Pure CSS, you can be confident that your UI will look and display correctly across a range of mobile and tablet devices.

Conclusion

Building applications and websites from scratch can quickly start to feel repetitive. Instead of wasting time coding the same elements over and over again, a CSS framework can handle this busywork for you.

If you’re still unsure which CSS framework is right for you, here’s a quick reminder of the six frameworks we covered earlier:

1. Bootstrap: An open source framework that’s perfect for responsive, mobile-first front-end web development.
2. Foundation: With an emphasis on speed, Foundation is ideal for rapid prototyping.
3. Skeleton: Coming in at under 500 lines of code, this CSS framework is designed with mobile devices in mind.
4. UIKit: A lightweight, modular framework that targets highly-experienced, professional developers.
5. Semantic UI: This theming framework contains pre-built semantic components that can help you create professionally-designed, responsive websites.
6. Pure: A collection of responsive CSS modules that have much to offer for mobile developers.

A CSS framework can be your secret weapon for developing professionally-designed websites and applications in record time. However, once you’re ready to send your project out into the world, you’ll still need somewhere to host it.

By choosing a provider that’s optimized for web frameworks, you can ensure that you’re getting the very best out of your finished project. At A2 Hosting, we’ve optimized our plans for a wide range of frameworks, including Bootstrap. We even offer 1-click framework setup!

The post What Is a CSS Framework? (And When to Use 6 Popular Options) appeared first on The A2 Posting.

This new PHP version has allowed popular frameworks like Symfony and WordPress to run on PHP 8.1, so you know that A2 Hosting’s servers will be able to support it! You can now take advantage of PHP 8.1 with your PHP applications hosted by us.

Web Hosting Support for PHP 8.1

PHP 8.1 is the most recent release of PHP and features new updates, such as:

Scalar Type Hints

PHP will now receive better error messages when type hinting doesn’t match. This means that if you’re expecting a string and PHP receives an integer, PHP will throw a clear and concise error message to help you debug the issue easier. PHP will also not allow errors to occur when typing hinting at your PHP variables. This is just one of the ways PHP 8.1 helps you keep your PHP applications secure and bug-free!

Return Type Declarations

PHP 8.1 now supports return type declarations which means that PHP will be able to tell what kind of data you’re expecting back from a function. PHP 8.1 can not only help with security but also PHP performance as PHP will be able to execute the function and return the type of data you’ve requested without an extra step which speeds up PHP execution!

PHP 7 Compatibility

PHP 8.1 now has improved compatibility with PHP 7 so PHP developers don’t have to rewrite their PHP scripts for PHP 7. PHP 8.1 is backward compatible with PHP 7 so you don’t have to rewrite your code!

Contact Us Today

A2 Hosting is a leading provider of PHP hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a 24/7 support team to help you get the most out of PHP 8.1, today! Our expert Guru Crew team can help you with any questions or concerns about your PHP application, PHP 8.1 support, or migrating to PHP 8.1! We are available 24/7/365.

The post A2 Hosting Supports Newest PHP Version 8.1 appeared first on The A2 Posting.

But did you know that proper hosting is also important in establishing a good business reputation?

Through web hosting services, a website can provide amazing user experiences that will improve any brand’s image in its market. The opposite is true with a poor hosting solution. This can lead to poor user experiences that reduce your engagement significantly.

So how can you choose the right web hosting solutions for your website?

To help you decide, we’ve prepared a brief guide on the crucial things to know when choosing web hosting services.

How to Choose the Right Web Hosting Services

There are at least five factors to consider when deciding on the ideal web hosting service for your needs. Getting the highest levels on all these factors will ensure that your website can provide an excellent user experience.

These factors are:

Web Hosting Service Factor #1: Speed

The speed of your web hosting service provider is one of the first and most important factors you should consider. Hosting speed is a priority consideration as it shows how fast a provider can load web pages.

Websites that can load quickly often translate to a better user experience since most people won’t stay if a page takes a long time to load. With a slow website, your customers are more likely to leave your page and opt for competitors instead.

When talking about hosting performance, the software stack or server technology used by a provider is one thing to look out for. With technology evolving at a rapid pace, it’s important to have a web host that can adapt quickly and employ the latest tech advancements for maximum speeds.

At A2 Hosting we offer Turbo hosting plans that are designed to provide users with the best speeds for their websites. The limited occupancy of these plans minimizes the number of resources being used while optimized server configurations ensure top performance.

Furthermore, our Turbo packages take advantage of the latest server hardware and software technologies in the market, providing as much as 20x faster page load speeds than the competition. Websites hosted on their turbos plans can handle 9x more traffic with 3x faster read/write speeds.

Web Hosting Service Factor #2: Reliability

Reliability or the uptime of web hosting services is the second most important aspect to consider. Your host’s reliability refers to how often a site is going to be available and accessible to the public.

Besides a slow-loading website, one that can’t be visited is one of the worst things businesses can experience. An inaccessible site, even if it’s just for a few hours, can significantly reduce conversion rates.

Brand websites that experience frequent downtimes can expect their images to be tarnished. No lead or customer would want to visit a website only to find out that it’s not available. Catering to the needs of the target market at all times should be a top priority for your business website.

One way you can avoid experiencing downtimes as much as possible is by leveraging a hosting solution that is guaranteed to have at least 99% uptime. Anything lower than that would drastically reduce conversions.

At A2 Hosting we take advantage of tried and tested technologies, ensuring that all of our customers get 99.99% uptime from our web hosting services.

Web Hosting Service Factor #3: Security

As you browse for your potential hosting solutions provider, you should consider the levels of security they have to offer for new and existing customers. This is particularly important at the server level since this is where most of your site’s resources are stored.

For instance, you want to check if they apply the newest operating system patches to your server. Patches and updates are vital for servers to have as few vulnerabilities as possible. You should also check if they provide DDoS protection and high-level firewalls to filter potentially malicious traffic.

Besides cybersecurity, backups are equally important as well. Backup solutions provide you with a repository containing saved business data that you can fall back on if the worst should happen.

With A2 Hosting, you can leverage secure web hosting services that provide you with top-notch protection and stability for your website. We work on the OpenVPN virtual private network so that our users can work from site to site and point to point without worrying about their security. OpenVPN, in particular, comes with security features such as network address translation (NAT) protection.

Meanwhile, our Brute Force Protection solution lets you block cybercriminals using methods such as IP routing, APF, and custom commands.

Other security features you can find from our packages include:

• ConfigServer and Firewall (CSF) login security
• Linux malware detection solutions
• Linux environment security
• SSL certificates
• Secure Shell (SSH) login security solution
• SimpleRisk risk management solution

At A2 Hosting, our goal is to help you identify potential security threats and resolve them before they become worse. Our secure servers utilize the latest and proven cybersecurity solutions so you can have around-the-clock protection for your websites.

Web Hosting Service Factor #4: Features and Add-Ons

Features and add-ons are always great to have in any web hosting service. The main reason for this is that these added options let you scale up when needed, especially when you wish to expand to a new market.

A2 Hosting offers customers quite a few add-on solutions that can help improve site security, functionality, usability, and experience. These additional options are:

• Cloudflare: The content delivery network (CDN) known as Cloudflare is a service that we provide to our web hosting customers free of charge. We offer a knowledge base of tutorials that will teach you how to set up and get started with Cloudflare.
• SSL certificates: SSL certificate is a necessary add-on solution for any website, especially in terms of ramping up security. Using the right SSL certificate, site owners can make sure that their website data are encrypted while making themselves more trustworthy to their visitors.
• WHMCS hosting: Resellers looking to leverage A2 Hosting’s plans can take advantage of WHMCS since we also support hosting with this feature. You can learn everything from configuring OpenSRS access for WHMCS to ordering a WHMCS license with us.
• Domain and SSL reseller: Again, for resellers or those using managed VPS or managed dedicated server accounts, you can turn into an SSL or eNom domain reseller with A2 Hosting.
• Promotions: Promotional programs are available when you pick A2 Hosting as your web hosting services provider. You can even access a knowledge base containing information on programs for affiliates, refer-a-friend, and more.
• cPanel licensing: Dedicated, cloud VPS, and unmanaged VPS servers normally don’t have cPanel included in their accounts. With A2 Hosting, cPanel licensing in included with many of our plans.
• MailChimp account setup: We can help you sign up for a MailChimp account and teach you how to generate API keys. The latter should help you integrate MailChimp with your A2 Hosting website so you can manage your newsletters and drip campaigns easily.
• Dropmysite: The Dropmysite cPanel plugin lets you keep track of your websites and configure backups for your data. A2 Hosting will provide you with all of the resources you need to make the most of Dropmysite.
• Ordering a Blesta license: Looking to leverage Blesta for your website? A2 Hosting will guide you throughout the process so you can maximize your reseller hosting package with us.

Web Hosting Service Factor #5: Support

If you’ve found a web hosting provider that has the hardware, software, and features that you need, then the next logical step is to consider their support. Does your chosen provider have the expertise, equipment, and resources to ensure you get the best levels of service at all times?

Here are a few aspects to consider when it comes to support:

• Support level: When it comes to a host’s level of support, you need to consider the level of support your business website needs. For instance, do you require VPS, cloud hosting, or dedicated server support? What about WooCommerce or WordPress? Does your host offer help on those platforms? Are you looking for a managed plan where your host takes care of all of your backend server needs or looking to manage it yourself?
• Contact methods: The next aspect to consider is how your provider gets in touch with you in terms of support. Do they offer telephone and live chat or just email? Having an online support ticket system can be crucial, especially for business websites. A2 Hosting offers ticket, live chat, email, and phone calls 24/7/365!
• Ability to respond: Besides being able to contact them through multiple methods, you should also learn how quickly they can address your issue. In case your website goes down, you want to know how long before it gets back up so you can get back to business as soon as possible.
• How quickly they resolve issues: Similar to the above, resolution time is another thing to consider with your web hosting provider. Some hosts pass the concerns of their customers to third-party support providers, which can take several days to be resolved. You want to leverage the support services of a company that can resolve all of your issues themselves. At A2 Hosting we have an extensive in house support team, otherwise know as our guru crew.
• Operating times: Finally, you want to check and ensure your web host can provide around-the-clock support. 24/7 customer service is a must nowadays especially for website owners that can experience problems at any time of the day or night. That’s why A2 Hosting has someone there to help you 24/7/365!

At A2 Hosting, our web hosting services come with the highest levels of support you can expect from a premium provider. We are available to answer inquiries or resolve issues of our customers whenever they need us.

In case you want to learn more about our services, you can visit our support page that contains all of the information you need on various hosting solutions.

Which Level of Hosting Plan Is Right for You?

So which level of web hosting plan fits your needs? Consider the short overview below and click this link to take our free quiz!

Shared Web Hosting Plan

Our Shared Web Hosting plan is our most affordable hosting solution that lets you share resources such as disk space, data transfer, and processing power. It also comes with cPanel, server backups, and unlimited storage.

VPS Hosting Plan

On our VPS Hosting plans you share the same server with other sites, but you get to operate your account independently. This means you get your own allotted amount of resources! If you choose our managed plans back-end server maintenance is handled for you.

Dedicated Hosting Plan

Looking for a premium hosting solution? Our dedicated hosting plan means that you get the highest performance, best features, and a private server solely for all of your business website needs.

Conclusion

These are the most important aspects you should know about choosing a web hosting service. Following the tips provided in this post will help guide you in getting the right solution for your website.

If you have any questions about our web hosting services, contact our sales team today. Interested in finding out which plan is right for you? I encourage you to take our free quiz to help you decide!

The post Crucial Things to Know When Choosing Web Hosting Services appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Your domain name is really important to your business as it’s the address your potential clients will type to find your website. If it’s easy to remember, resonates with your audience, and enhances your brand, it instantly boosts your credibility. A quality domain name attracts clients, while a bad one can send them running.

If you’re in the process of picking a domain name, we recommend choosing a short, branded, easy-to-type one. You can even add a keyword if it’s possible. Feel free to use a domain name generator to come up with fresh ideas.

The good news is, when you find the perfect domain name, you can keep it forever by taking steps to renew and protect it.

Choosing the right domain name is just the beginning, though. It’s also critical to select the ideal host for your website. Your hosting provider affects your website’s load speed — a factor that influences search engine optimization (SEO), conversion, and bounce rates. If your page load time exceeds three seconds, you can say goodbye to 57% of your site visitors.

Don’t worry if you didn’t get these components right on your first try. If your current host isn’t working out, you can renew your domain name with a different hosting provider. This article will serve as your guide for how to renew your domain name and how to change hosting providers.

A Guide To Renewing Your Domain Name

Many of our clients wonder if they own a domain name when they purchase it. The answer is a resounding no!

When buying a domain name, consider it a lease that you have to renew before it lapses. If you don’t, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will suspend and eventually cancel it. If this agency scraps your site, you lose all the information on it and any associated email addresses.

Now, if you miss your renewal date, a third party can buy it. When this happens, you can’t renew your domain name anymore, and you might not even have the option to buy it back.

Naturally, it’s better to renew your domain name than face the consequences of such a scenario. It could lead to revenue losses, a drop in site traffic, and a damaged reputation.

So, When Should You Renew Your Domain Name?

There’s no universal period for domains, but they often last anywhere between one and ten years. If you’re ready to renew your domain name, you can choose a longer lease so you won’t have to go through the renewal process every year.

In some cases, registrars contact organizations before a domain name expires. They typically will help you update your information, transfer your domain name, or move to a different registrar if you want.

So, How Do I Renew My Domain Name?

Renewing your domain varies slightly with different hosts. However, you often have two choices: auto or manual renewal. Whichever you choose, we guarantee that renewing before your domain expires will minimize business interruptions.

With an auto-renew option, you can select your preferred number of registered years and set reminders for your renewal.

On the other hand, you can also opt to renew your domain manually. You should find details like status and remaining days until expiry on your hosting platform.

Can I Transfer My Domain Name to a New Host?

Yes, absolutely! To register a domain name, you need a registrar or a host that offers such services. However, if your current host charges too much, lacks support options, or often experiences technical difficulties, you can always move to another one.

You need two things to transfer your domain name: an active domain and an account with your new host. Follow the steps below to complete this process.

Step 1: Remove Your Domain Lock

Many registrars and web hosts use a domain lock feature to tie your domain to a service until you disable it. This attribute allows you to protect your site from any unauthorized transfer attempts.

Luckily, disabling it is a simple process. All you have to do is log in to where you registered your domain and look for the unlock option.

Step 2: Initiate a Transfer

Log into your new host or registrar and find the option to transfer your domain. Usually, you can find it in your dashboard.

Your host will then ask you to confirm your new destination with an authorization code. Afterward, your new platform will begin the process.

Step 3: Verify the Transfer

When you initiate a transfer, you will receive an email asking you to confirm it. The message should contain your new domain and registrar. Once you click the confirmation link and signify your agreement, the process is almost complete.

After you transfer your domain, you won’t be able to do it again for at least 60 days. The exception to this rule is if you go back to your old registrar.

Step 4: Pay Your New Host for the Transfer

Most platforms allow free domain transfers but will require renewal fees afterward.

After payment, all you have to do is wait. Some registrars take days to complete this process, while others can do it in less than a day. When the transfer is complete, you can view your domain in your new host’s management screen.

Can I Renew My Domain Name After It Expires?

Yes, you can renew your domain name after it expires.

We’ll let you in on a secret. Forgetting to renew domain names is not as uncommon as you think. It happens to the best of us.

So when you’re facing domain expiration, don’t panic. You have a few days to save it.

With ICANN using the Expired Registration Recovery Policy, here are a few pointers to follow:

• Renewal grace period: Your domain name will be on hold up to 30 days after expiration. During this time, potential clients cannot access your website. If you renew your domain name by this time, you will only have to pay the standard fees.
• Restoration grace period: From day 31 to 60, your website is close to the brink of deletion. You can still renew your domain name during this time, but you will incur additional charges.
• Day 61: If you still haven’t renewed your website two months after expiration, it will be available for others to buy. Don’t let your renewal reach this point.

If you’re too busy to manage such tasks, we recommend setting your account to auto-renew. Doing so will help save your site from potentially catastrophic consequences.

Benefits of Renewing Your Domain Name

If you’ve established a solid customer base, they associate your business with your domain name. It’s part of your online authority. Losing your domain name impacts your relationship with your clients negatively.

Below are some reasons why it’s best to renew your domain name instead of changing it.

Protect Your Brand

We recommend renewing your domain name to protect your brand.

If you don’t do so, it becomes available on the market. Anyone can claim it — including your fiercest competitors. You don’t want any of them controlling your previous domain name.

Also, organizations often link their domain names to their social media accounts. Losing your domain name will disrupt the flow of traffic to your website and create uncertainty for your followers and subscribers.

Guarantee Higher Uptime

In the web hosting world, uptime means the amount of time your website is operational. Failure to renew your domain suspends all services connected to your account, including email addresses.

The longer your downtime lasts, the more visitors you lose. This scenario will leave search engines and consumers alike doubting your website’s authenticity. Renewing your domain on time will help to prevent all these challenges.

Preserve SEO Efforts

A parking page takes your domain’s spot when it expires, impacting your search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Your marketing team might need months to undo the damage that the expiration causes.

Search engines don’t check if your site is down, but they will crawl your site repeatedly. The longer the parking page stays, the more your search result rankings will drop.

Also, one of the risks associated with changing your domain name is your ranking. We recommend working with a professional if you don’t know how to change your domain name without damaging your ranking position.

Avoid Fraud

Domain name owners sometimes fall victim to scammers. When you become too busy to pay attention to your URLs, you may become vulnerable to con artists.

If you don’t renew your domain, you might find yourself dealing with official-looking notices sent via snail mail or email. The individuals behind the attacks will send fraudulent instructions and exorbitant renewal rates.

Sometimes, unsuspecting entrepreneurs pay the fines instead of dealing with an expired site. By the time they realize their mistake, the hustlers will be gone.

Elevate Your Site With a Trusted Web Hosting Company

Once you’ve renewed your domain name, it might be time to consider a new web hosting company for your site, like A2 Hosting! Doing so can help you stand out in a sea of competition.

What makes A2 Hosting so great? Check out some of the factors below.

Enhanced Security

We apply various best practices to ensure client safety.

• HackScan: 24/7/365 running on your account to block attacks BEFORE they can happen
• Reinforced DDos Protection: Our (distributed denial of service) DDoS defense solution provides high scale capacity, instant attack detection and mitigation. This improves the likelihood that your site will remain online during even the most sophisticated distributed denial of service attacks.
• Dual Hosting Firewall: Your A2 Hosting account includes an overall network firewall with an additional server firewall to block unauthorized users and secure vulnerabilities. Your server’s firewall deflects threats that manage to penetrate our network’s firewall.
• Server Hardening: A2 Hosting disables non-mission-critical server components to decrease potential server exploits. We further reduce potential exploits by maintaining the most current security patches and updates on your server.
• Plus much more that you can read about here!

Unmatched Support System

If your web host isn’t there for you 24/7/365, it’s time to reconsider your options. Recent statistics show that businesses lose an estimated $26.5 billion annually from IT downtime, making every minute online count. A2 Hosting has a team of web gurus that are around all the time by chat, ticket system, and phone!

World-Class Speed

You should choose the best hosting plan for your business, even if it’s not the free kind. The speed of the remote server your host uses will affect the load time of every visitor that tries to access your site. Our Turbo plans from A2 Hosting are built for speed. Limited occupancy, upgraded server hardware, advanced caching software, optimized configurations, and a variety of performance add-ons combine to give you one of the fastest web hosting experiences out there. A2 Turbo’s enhanced performance and speed improves your user experience and reduces page load times to help you increase your conversion rates.

• Up to 20x faster page loads
• Handle up to 9x more traffic
• 2x faster to first byte
• 3x faster read/write speeds

Renew Your Domain With A2 Hosting

Most of our clients have kept the same domain name for decades. Renewing your domain name can be the difference between impressive growth and massive losses  —  so don’t overlook this process.

At A2 Hosting, we have the security, support, and speed you need to dominate the digital world. We’ve been empowering businesses of all sizes and industries with practical hosting solutions for almost 20 years.

For as low as $2.99 per month, you can enjoy a 99.9% uptime commitment, a dedicated guru crew, and 20X faster load speeds. Renew your domain name with us now to propel your business toward growth.

The post Can I Renew My Domain With Another Provider? appeared first on The A2 Posting.

A recent Microsoft study shows that a whopping 90% of Americans consider customer service a crucial deciding factor in choosing a brand. Let’s face it: no one wants to do business with companies that treat customers poorly. Read on for six hacks to boost your customer service and support online for the holidays!

1.   Analyze Previous Data

One of the best ways to plan for the holidays is to review previous data, such as customer interactions, pain points, and online customer service improvement opportunities.

Below are some components you can research.

• Holiday shopping incremental customer volume versus the rest of the year
• Common customer concerns and questions
• Customers’ preferred communication channels

Analyzing this data will help you come up with a strategy to better accommodate the increased traffic and questions that are sure to come with it. Then you can make a more informed strategy so your support team can go into the holiday rush with a plan.

2.   Prepare for the Holiday Traffic

Holiday shopping is supposed to be fun, but studies done by the American Psychological Association reveal it stresses out eight out of ten Americans. Any website component can chase customers away, including slow loading times, confusing navigation, and complex checkout processes.

Remember to assess integrations, restock inventories, and beef up security measures to elevate customer experiences during the holidays.

3.   Get Ready to Scale

No matter how much you prepare for the holidays, you always need a contingency plan to scale up or down as needed.

If you find your staff overwhelmed with inquiries, you can automate e-commerce support, add manpower hours, or outsource business components.

4.   Make Self-Service Easy

Before the holiday season arrives, make sure your processes make it easy for potential buyers to find what they need on their own. Here are some ways to guide holiday shoppers:

• Links to FAQs
• Video guides
• Relevant articles

From tracking pages to complex AI-powered e-commerce support, digital self-service is a cost-effective way to deliver quick results for customers. With the right tools on your side, you and your online customer service team can celebrate the holidays without affecting your operations.

5.   Surprise Fans with Shipping Options

Don’t limit all the holiday cheer to your e-commerce store. You can create a strategy to expand your channels, such as:

• Online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Wish
• Social media pages like Facebook and Instagram
• International platforms such as Mercado Libre

If you decide to open new revenue streams, connect your channels for seamless transactions. It’s best to use a unified system to provide clients with a holistic experience no matter which platform they choose.

6.   Develop Relevant Marketing Campaigns

From Black Friday to Cyber Monday, there are many opportunities to make customers feel the love during the holidays. Personalized holiday offers have many advantages, including:

• Attracting massive audiences.
• Converting random visitors into customers.
• Reactivating inactive clients.

The season provides online business owners with an opportunity to boost sales. According to MuchNeeded, holiday shopping accounts for 30% of all sales annually.

Elevate Your Customer Service

Your customer service and support online play a critical role in your holiday success. Whatever strategy you prefer, make sure your e-commerce platform can address consumer needs.

At A2 Hosting, we offer hosting solutions 20x faster than our competitors, boosting load speeds, SEO rankings, and sales. We’re here if you need a reliable partner in prepping your business for the holidays. Talk to our sales team today to learn how we can help you and your eCommerce website!

Related Resources:

• A2 Hosting’s Ultimate Guide to Getting Your eCommerce Website Holiday Ready
• A Developer’s Checklist for Getting Your Site Ready for the Holidays
• How Your eCommerce Business Can Nail Holiday Customer Service
• How to Handle Heavy Traffic to Your eCommerce Site During the Holiday Season

The post How Your eCommerce Business Can Nail Holiday Customer Service appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Fortunately, you don’t need to spend years learning the intricacies of writing code. By familiarizing yourself with how WordPress uses its core programming languages and learning the basic syntax, you can unlock a whole new world of possibilities.

In this post, we’ll look at the role PHP plays in the world’s most popular Content Management System (CMS). We’ll then show you how to customize the core WordPress platform, themes, and plugins by writing some simple PHP functions. Let’s get started!

An Introduction to PHP

PHP is an open-source programming language that is used by almost 80 percent of all websites whose programming language is known. As a server-side language, the majority of PHP processing happens on your server.

Whenever a visitor requests a page that contains PHP, this code is processed by the PHP module installed on your web server. The pre-processor then generates the HTML output and sends it to the visitor’s browser.

Part of PHP’s popularity is due to the fact that it’s used by different Content Management Systems (CMS), including WordPress. In fact, the bulk of the core WordPress software is written in PHP. If you download and unzip a copy of WordPress core, you’ll see plenty of PHP files:

Whenever someone visits your WordPress website, the server will run the PHP code contained in your theme and core files, plus any plugins you’ve installed on your site. Once your server has processed all of that PHP, it will deliver the HTML code to the web browser. This means that the visitor will only ever encounter the processed HTML, and never the PHP code that powers your WordPress website.

Like other programming languages, there are many different versions of PHP. At the time of writing, the most recent release is 8.0.8, with everything prior to PHP 7.3 considered end of life. This means that PHP developers no longer issue updates or security patches for older versions. Thus, we recommend avoiding all versions of PHP prior to 7.3.

Why PHP Is Important for Website Owners

You don’t need to be a PHP master in order to run a successful WordPress website. The great thing about opting for WordPress as your CMS is that the majority of the PHP is already written for you. In fact, most WordPress users never learn how to write or understand this popular programming language.

However, there are some benefits to learning PHP. Out of the box, WordPress is a powerful and flexible CMS, but there may come a time when the built-in options aren’t enough.

If you want to modify WordPress’ core behaviors, some basic PHP skills can help you create more complex and unique customizations. In particular, WordPress supports a number of hooks, classes, and functions that you can use to extend this platform in new and exciting ways.

If you dream of developing your own WordPress theme or plugin, then you’ll also need to know PHP. In addition, many themes and plugins are open sources, so you’re free to modify the underlying code. Similar to WordPress core, if you download and unzip any theme or plugin, you’ll see a list of PHP files:

Even if you don’t plan to code a theme or plugin from scratch, you may still benefit from tweaking these existing PHP files. By getting to grips with the basic syntax, you’ll have the freedom to modify that theme or plugin in order to make it the perfect fit for your WordPress website.

How to Write PHP Code and Functions

Becoming a PHP master is beyond the scope of this post. However, it helps to have a basic understanding of the syntax. To start, all PHP code is surrounded by tags, for example:

<?php echo 'This is PHP'; ?>

Here, we’re defining a string, which is a sequence of characters. In PHP, you differentiate a string from the rest of the code using either single quotation marks or double quotation marks, for example:

'This is PHP'

Each line of code generally ends with a { or a semicolon. However, statements like echo should always end with a semicolon.

In the above example, we’re using the ?> closing PHP tag. While you’ll use this closing tag throughout your code, it’s best practice not to use the closing PHP tags at the end of your file.

Although there is some interaction between HTML and PHP, it’s important to differentiate between these two programming languages by using the appropriate tags. For example, a file containing both HTML and PHP might look something like this:

<html>
<?php echo 'This is PHP'; ?>
</html>

Another fundamental element of PHP are functions, which are stored procedures. You can define functions using the following structure:

function functionName() {
code to be executed;
}

The function name must start with either a letter or an underscore. It’s also worth noting that function names aren’t case-sensitive. Let’s look at an example of a simple function:

<?php
function displayMsg() {
echo "Hello World";
}

displayMsg();
?>

Here, we’re creating a function called displayMsg. This function will output the value Hello World. To call this function, we’re simply writing the name of the function followed by brackets. Although this may seem like a simple example, you can apply this exact structure to more complex PHP functions.

A Few PHP Best Practices

As one of the world’s most popular programming languages, PHP is a prime target for hackers. If a malicious third party manages to uncover a vulnerability in PHP code, they could use this exact same attack against multiple WordPress sites.

To help keep your site safe, it’s important to ensure that you’re running the latest version of PHP. At A2 Hosting, we give our customers the flexibility to switch between different versions of PHP. If you have a shared or managed hosting account, you can log into your cPanel and choose the Select PHP Version tool.

Then, open the Current PHP dropdown and choose a version of PHP from the list:

Alternatively, if you have a managed Virtual Private Server (VPS) or managed server account, you can open a support ticket specifying the version of PHP that you want to use. Our team will be happy to make this change for you.

When writing custom PHP, you can protect against Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks by sanitizing your data. PHP’s filter_var function contains disinfection indicators that enable you to check all user-submitted data. You can then remove any values that aren’t of the expected type. You can also use PHP’s validation features to ensure that user-submitted values match your expectations.

Error messages may be vital when testing your website, but a hacker might use these messages to glean valuable information about your site. For this reason, it’s smart to hide error messages before deploying your website on a live server.

To close this potential security loophole, start by launching cPanel’s File Manager tool:

Then, navigate to your wp-admin directory and open the php.ini file. To disable error logging, simply add the following text to your file: display_errors=Off.

How to Add PHP Functions Using a WordPress Plugin

By default, WordPress won’t execute PHP inside of a page or post. If you want to add custom PHP code to a specific webpage, you’ll need to use the Insert PHP Code Snippet plugin.

This plugin provides a central location where you can define each PHP snippet. You can then insert these snippets anywhere on your site, using the automatically-generated shortcode.

After installing and activating the Insert PHP Code Snippet plugin, navigate to XYZ PHP Code > PHPCode Snippets:

On the next page, select Add New PHP Code Snippet. Inside the code box, you can either copy/paste or type the PHP function that you want to use:

In the Tracking Name field, you’ll need to give this PHP snippet a title. This will represent the PHP function throughout the WordPress dashboard, so it’s a good idea to choose something distinctive. You’ll also use the tracking name when calling this snippet manually. When you’re happy with the information you’ve entered, click on Create.

You can now add this PHP snippet to any page or post, using a shortcode. To access this shortcode, head to XYZ PHP Code > PHPCode Snippets. You can then find the snippet in question and copy its corresponding shortcode:

Next, open the page or post where you want to insert the associated PHP. You can then create a new shortcode block:

Simply paste the shortcode into this block and save your changes. This custom PHP will now be installed on this specific page or post.

How to Remove PHP Functions From a Page or Post

At some point, you may want to remove custom PHP snippets from your website. Perhaps you no longer require a particular function, or you’re concerned that it’s making your site more vulnerable to attack.

If you want to remove a function from a specific page or post, then simply open that webpage for editing, find the shortcode in question, and delete it. Alternatively, you can deactivate a PHP snippet without removing it from the pages where it’s installed. This can be useful if you’ve deployed the same snippet across multiple pages and want a quick and easy way to deactivate every instance of this function.

To temporarily suspend a snippet, navigate to XYZ PHP Code > PHPCode Snippets. You can then find the snippet and click on its accompanying Pause button.

Another option is to delete the function from the Insert PHP Code Snippet plugin. This can be a serious time-saver if you’ve used a snippet multiple times and want to permanently remove it from every single webpage.

To delete a snippet, navigate to XYZ PHP Code > PHPCode Snippets. Then, locate the snippet that you want to scrub from your WordPress website and click on its accompanying Delete action.

How to Add PHP Functions Without a Plugin (In 2 Easy Steps)

If you want all the benefits of custom PHP without installing yet another WordPress plugin, then a child theme may be the answer. Before proceeding, we recommend creating a backup so you’ll have something to restore in case anything goes wrong. Once your backup is in place, you’re ready to start.

1. Create a Child Theme

You can create a child theme via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) using a client such as FileZilla. After connecting to your site, your first task is to create a directory for your child theme.

In FileZilla, navigate to wp-content/themes and create a new folder. When naming your directory, we recommend using the parent theme’s name, appended with -child:

The next step is to create a style sheet. This file will contain the code that determines your website’s design. When creating this file, make sure you assign it the filename style.ss:

To build an eye-catching and effective child theme, you’ll usually have to write a considerable amount of code. However, if you just want to spin up a quick child theme to test your custom PHP functions, the WordPress Codex provides some boilerplate code that you can use:

/*
Theme Name: Twenty Fifteen Child
Theme URI: http://example.com/twenty-fifteen-child/
Description: Twenty Fifteen Child Theme
Author: John Doe
Author URI: http://example.com
Template: twentyfifteen
Version: 1.0.0
License: GNU General Public License v2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
Tags: light, dark, two-columns, right-sidebar, responsive-layout, accessibility-ready
Text Domain: twentyfifteenchild
*/

Next, you’ll need to create a functions.php file, which is where you’ll add features to your theme. After creating this file, open it in your text editor and add the following:

<?php
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'enqueue_parent_styles' );
function enqueue_parent_styles() {
wp_enqueue_style( 'parent-style', get_template_directory_uri().'/style.css' );
}

In this snippet, we’re inheriting information from the parent’s style sheet. Now that you have all of the essential elements in place, you can navigate to Appearance > Themes in the WordPress dashboard. Here, you should be able to see your child theme. Assuming that you’re happy with your theme’s appearance, you can activate it.

2. Add a PHP Function

The next step is adding your custom PHP functions to your child theme. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Theme Editor. Then, open the Select theme to edit dropdown and choose your child theme:

In the left-hand menu, select the functions.php file. You can now add all of your PHP functions to this file.

As a quick example, let’s create a simple function that will display some text. To achieve this, copy and paste the following:

function test_func( $atts ){
return 'This is a PHP function' ;
}
add_shortcode( 'test', 'test_func' );

You can then select Update File. Now, you can call this PHP function using the defined shortcode. In the above example, we set the shortcode as test.

In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to the page or post where you want to call this PHP function. Then, create a new shortcode block and add your shortcode:

You can now save your changes and head to the page that you’ve just edited. The string from your test function should appear on this webpage:

This is just a simple example. WordPress supports a wide range of functions that you can use to customize and extend your new child theme. You’ll find a complete library of all these functions over at the WordPress Codex.

Why You Might Want to Add PHP Functions Without a Plugin

Plugins can be a quick and easy way to insert PHP into a specific webpage. However, if you only need to insert the occasional PHP function, then installing an entire plugin may feel like overkill.

WordPress plugins are also a huge source of security vulnerabilities. In 2021, WP White Security discovered almost 4,000 known plugin vulnerabilities. With this in mind, you may want to try minimizing the number of plugins installed on your WordPress website.

As we have seen, you can insert PHP manually by creating a child theme. You can then add your custom code to that child’s functions.php file. The downside is that your PHP functions will only work when you’re using this particular theme.

While it may be tempting to simply apply your PHP code to your current theme, it’s always best to create a child theme first. If you edit the parent theme’s functions.php file directly, then these changes will be overwritten every time you update your theme. By taking the time to create a child theme now, you can continue installing the latest updates without losing all of your custom code.

Conclusion

You don’t need to know PHP in order to run a successful WordPress website. However, PHP can be an effective tool for enhancing and extending the core Content Management System (CMS) platform.

Armed with some PHP know-how, you can add your own custom hooks to any page or post. You can also tweak your favorite themes and plugins so they’re the perfect fit for your WordPress website. If you’re feeling adventurous, then learning PHP may even be the first step towards developing your own themes and plugins.

Custom PHP can be a powerful addition to your site. However, hackers may try to weaponize this programming language against you. At A2 Hosting, we offer all the security features you need in order to reap the rewards of bespoke PHP without any risks.

Related Resources:

PHP and WordPress Compatability: Everything You Need to Know

Top 8 Security Practices for PHP

How to Find the Right WordPress Plan

9 Ways to Keep Your WordPress Website Secure

Image credit: Pexels.

The post What Is PHP (And How Can You Use It in WordPress)? appeared first on The A2 Posting.

If your project demands the highest level of performance, security, and compliance, then a bare metal dedicated server may be a good fit. By opting for bare metal, you’ll get guaranteed access to 100 percent of your server’s resources and will have complete control over its configuration.

In this post, we’ll dive deep into what a bare metal server is, and why you might need this powerful hosting option. To help you decide whether bare metal is right for you, we’ll then explore its advantages and disadvantages as well as some key factors to consider when deciding if you should choose this solution. Here are four quick reasons this server may be right for you:

1. You can customize your server to meet your exact needs.
2. It enables you to avoid the noisy neighbor effect.
3. Dedicated servers provide improved security.
4. You’ll have guaranteed access to 100 percent of your server’s resources.

What Is a Bare Metal Dedicated Server?

A bare metal dedicated server is a physical computer server that hosts a single customer only. With this solution, the physical resources are never shared between two or more tenants, meaning you get guaranteed access to 100 percent of your server’s resources.

Each dedicated server is a distinct physical piece of hardware that’s capable of functioning on its own. This is in contrast to virtual servers, which may run in multiple pieces of shared hardware.

It’s worth noting that all servers, whether virtualized or bare metal, are based on physical hardware. Even in a virtualized environment, there is physical hardware underneath – you just don’t have access to it.

An unmanaged bare metal server is ideal for experienced developers who are comfortable working with the command line. At A2 Hosting, all of our dedicated hosting plans come with administrative-level root access:

We can also provide your choice of Linux Operating System (OS). This includes CentOS, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, Slackware, or Gentoo:

If at any point you want to use a different operating system, you can reload your Linux OS on demand. This gives you the flexibility to continue using the same server, even if your project’s requirements change so dramatically that you require an entirely different configuration.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Bare Metal Dedicated Servers?

Your choice of hosting plan can make or break your business. To help you get this crucial decision right, let’s look at the pros and cons of these servers.

The Pros of Bare Metal Dedicated Servers

Advantages of these servers include:

• Compliance with privacy and security requirements. It’s easier to configure a dedicated server to meet certain regulations, making them particularly popular with organizations in the financial, healthcare, government, and retail industries.
• Reliability. This is useful if you plan to process large volumes of traffic or data. The data-crunching capabilities of dedicated servers also make them a good fit for any projects relating to big data, mathematics, analytics, or visualization. This includes machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Access to large amounts of computing resources. This is essential for performing resource-intensive tasks such as streaming video or rendering animations.
• Low latency. This makes bare metal dedicated servers ideal for render farms and media encoding operations.

However, no technology is perfect. Therefore, it’s wise to weigh the drawbacks of bare metal servers against these factors.

The Cons of Bare Metal Dedicated Servers

Here are some potential downsides to consider before opting for bare metal:

• You’re tied to a specific piece of hardware. Any problems with your hardware could potentially result in performance-related issues. One solution is to opt for a managed bare metal server so your hosting provider is responsible for maintaining that all-important hardware.
• Potential for a poor Return On Investment (ROI). Dedicated servers provide guaranteed access to 100 percent of the server’s resources. However, if you’re not using them to their fullest extent, they may not be worth the investment.
• Managing a bare metal server in-house may require specialist skills and a significant amount of time and effort. If you’re concerned about this additional workload, then you can always opt for a managed plan.

Your server is the foundation for your website, application, or project. Therefore, it’s vital that it has all the resources you need to meet your business goals. If your server doesn’t provide enough firepower, then your site may start to lag. To ensure you get this crucial decision right, we recommend carefully weighing all of these pros and cons against your specific needs.

4 Signs a Bare Metal Dedicated Server May Be Right for You

Dedicated servers aren’t for everyone. However, there are some projects and businesses that need the unique features and horsepower this solution offers.

Let’s find out whether your business is one of them. Here are four signs that a bare metal dedicated server may be right for you.

1. You Want to Customize Your Server to Meet Your Exact Needs

As a single tenant, you’ll have more control over your physical server compared to a group of people who all coexist on the same server. This includes accessing the underlying hardware.

A dedicated environment gives you complete control over your bandwidth, memory usage, and many other important web hosting aspects. This level of control means you can optimize the server to suit your exact needs in terms of performance, security, and reliability.

For example, some projects may be more memory-intensive but require less disk space. Other websites may need less RAM, but more disk space. By opting for bare metal, you can optimize the server so that it provides the exact experience you need.

If you’re looking for a long-term hosting solution, then bare metal may be a good fit for your business. It’s usually safe to assume that your requirements will evolve over time. As your needs change, you can adapt your bare metal server for a wide range of different workloads.

At A2 Hosting, all of our bare metal servers are fully customizable, right down to choosing your level of RAM and disk space. We also understand that not all of your employees will be comfortable interacting with the command line.

For this reason, we give all our dedicated customers the option to add a user-friendly cPanel control panel to their accounts. This ensures that all your employees can manage the server files, database, email, and more, even if they have no previous experience with the command line.

2. You Need to Avoid the Noisy Neighbor Effect

Assuming that two servers are completely equal, a bare metal server will outpace its shared equivalent in terms of performance. This is largely due to the fact that as the sole tenant, you have access to 100 percent of your server’s resources.

In particular, dedicated servers protect you from the ‘noisy neighbor’ effect. This occurs when you’re sharing a server with a customer who consumes an unfair portion of the available resources. Your neighbor may take up so much storage or memory that it temporarily affects the other tenants on the server.

In this scenario, your website may slow down or even go offline. When you’re the only tenant on a server, you’re immune to the noisy neighbor effect.

The way a bare metal server is set up can also provide performance benefits. Since this type of solution is completely customizable, you can optimize your server’s resources to process your specific workload more efficiently.

In a virtual environment, servers require at least one additional layer of software, in the form of a hypervisor. Bare metal servers don’t require this, which means your OS is installed directly on your server. This typically delivers better performance.

The presence of a hypervisor on a shared server also prevents the customers on that server from taking advantage of any architectural perks of the physical hardware. By comparison, users on dedicated servers are in a unique position to make far better use of the physical hardware available to them.

This performance predictability is excellent news for any business that needs to process critical high-intensity workloads. This includes business intelligence and database applications.

You may also want to opt for a  dedicated server if you require lots of computing resources and low latency, such as if you’re hosting high-resolution graphics or working with large amounts of data. Render farms and media encoding operations are other examples of projects that commonly opt for bare metal servers due to their performance predictability.

3. Your Website Requires Improved Security

When you opt for a shared server, your data will be stored on the same hardware as other customers. As we described in the previous section, this kind of shared setup is inherently riskier than storing your data on a separate machine.

With a dedicated hosting solution, you can isolate your data, applications, and other resources. Bare metal servers will always provide a higher level of privacy and security than shared environments, including VPS plans.

Your data and resources may also be less susceptible to malware, viruses, and other digital threats. When it comes to shared environments, data streams infected by malicious code may affect multiple accounts across the server. A responsible hosting provider will quarantine data streams from the infection. However, you may still experience the effects of a redirected resource load.

Hackers may also find vulnerabilities in the isolation software regularly employed by shared servers. Since dedicated servers don’t use this type of software, you immediately eliminate a potential vulnerability by opting for a dedicated solution.

This increased security makes dedicated servers an ideal option if you need to comply with certain regulations or manage data that needs to be kept top secret. For example, people who need data isolation and improved security. For increased security, you can also configure your hardware to meet your unique requirements.

4. You Need Guaranteed Access to Server Resources

Resource usage on bare metal servers is highly predictable compared to shared environments. If you plan on crunching data or running applications that may experience usage spikes, then bare metal may be the right choice for you.

As we previously mentioned, in a shared environment there’s always a chance that you may wind up with bad neighbors who consume an unfair portion of the available resources. This can affect your project’s performance.

If you cannot access the resources you need, then your website or application may slow down, and could even experience downtime. When you share a server with other customers, you may also struggle to handle spikes in traffic. Attracting lots of visitors is the ultimate goal for many projects, but it can quickly turn sour if your server is unable to process all of this additional attention.

When using dedicated hosting, you don’t have to compete for resources. You’ll have guaranteed access to all of your server’s horsepower. If your project does experience a sudden influx of traffic, then you’ll be in a stronger position to capitalize on the opportunity it presents.

With all of your server’s resources at your disposal, visitors should be greeted by a lightning-fast website, rather than a sluggish User Experience (UX). This makes bare metal servers ideal for delivering business-critical websites, where even a temporary drop in performance can prove disastrous.

By choosing a dedicated server you’re already off to a good start. However, your choice of hosting provider is also important. At A2 Hosting, we offer all our customers a 99.9 percent Uptime Commitment, so you can be confident that your site or web application will remain online no matter how much attention it attracts.

How to Make Managing Your Bare Metal Dedicated Server Easy

There is a general belief that operating a bare metal server requires a large team of IT professionals. While this may be true for an on-premise setup, it’s not the case if you opt for a managed hosting package.

A reputable managed hosting provider will offer a full range of additional services, too. This can greatly simplify the process of running a dedicated server. As part of our managed packages, we take care of much of the day-to-day maintenance, security, and network performance tasks, while also providing around the clock support:

When you’re getting these services from a third party such as A2 Hosting, you don’t need to find the bandwidth to manage these tasks in-house or hire additional staff to carry this workload. This can help reduce your overhead costs. It also leaves you free to focus on your business goals.

For example, say you use a managed bare metal server to power your reseller hosting business. You can then concentrate on securing new customers while your hosting provider takes care of your server.

The data centers managed by an established hosting provider are typically far more streamlined than in-house setups. This means that our bare metal servers are more cost-effective to run than an equivalent on-site server. We pass these cost savings on to our customers.

Conclusion

Some projects require more resources than others, and shared or VPS hosting plans may not always be up to the task. If you’re performing some serious data processing, then you may benefit from a bare metal server.

If you’re still debating whether bare metal is right for you, let’s quickly recap the four reasons to opt for a dedicated server that we covered in this post:

1. You can customize your server to meet your exact needs.
2. It enables you to avoid the noisy neighbor effect.
3. Bare metal servers provide improved security.
4. You’ll have guaranteed access to 100 percent of your server’s resources.

A bare metal server represents a significant investment, so you’ll want to ensure you’re partnering with the right provider. At A2 Hosting, all of our servers come preconfigured for high performance and can deliver up to 20X faster page loading speeds than our competitors. Check out our plans today!

Featured Image credit: Pexels.

The post What Is a Bare Metal Dedicated Server? (And When Is It Right for You?) appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Fortunately, moving your business online doesn’t have to be a daunting prospect. With some simple tools and techniques, you can launch a successful website. You can even optimize your site to ensure that you’re providing the best possible customer experience.

In this article, we’ll share a step-by-step guide to moving your business online. Regardless of whether you want to sell products, promote your services, or simply establish an online presence, this guide has everything you need to know. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Choose the Best Domain Name for Your Business

Choosing a domain name is one of the most important decisions you can make. Although you can always switch the URL address at a later date, you risk damaging your search engine rankings. There’s also a chance that the change may confuse your customers.

When moving your business online, you’ll typically want to feature your business’ name somewhere in your domain. However, you may need to make some adjustments depending on the length of your branding.

If your company name is on the shorter side, you may decide to add some relevant keywords. This can help search engines understand what your business is all about, and increases your chances of appearing in relevant Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

When deciding which keywords to target, it may help to use tools such as Google Trends or Keyword Planner:

Keep in mind that longer URLs are often more difficult for customers to remember. They can also create more opportunities for errors, such as spelling mistakes and typos.

To prevent this from happening, you might want to develop a shortened version of your branding, such as by using an abbreviation. Alternatively, you could combine an unusual domain extension with part of your business name. For example, the Whisky.Auction website uses the URL “https://whisky.auction”.

You can check to see whether a domain name is available using a tool such as Domain Registration:

Wherever possible, we recommend purchasing your domain and hosting from the same provider, as this can simplify the administrative work associated with moving your business online. To provide the best possible experience to all our customers, A2 Hosting offers both domain name registration and domain hosting.

Step 2: Purchase Reliable Web Hosting

In addition to a domain name, you’ll need to purchase web hosting. This is the service that’s used to store all the files that make up your website.

When choosing a hosting package, we always recommend checking the provider’s uptime rates. If your site goes down, it can result in lost revenue. According to Gartner, unscheduled downtime can cost a company as much as $5,600 every single minute.

Frequent or lengthy downtime can also make your business seem unprofessional and potentially untrustworthy. A study by Moz even found that internal server errors can cause issues with tracked keywords. This means that your choice of hosting provider may undermine all of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts.

If you do encounter any issues with your website, you’ll want to get it back up and running as quickly as possible. Therefore, we suggest opting for a hosting provider that offers 24/7 customer support via multiple channels, so you always have access to the information you need to get your site back online:

It’s also a smart move to research what customers are saying about your potential hosting provider. Customer testimonials, case studies, and feedback posted on the provider’s website are solid places to start.

However, to get completely unbiased opinions, we also suggest checking third-party review sites such as Trustpilot:

Performance is also crucial. Studies have shown that 40 percent of customers abandon a site that takes longer than three seconds to load, so it’s wise to look for a provider that prioritizes performance. At A2 Hosting, our Turbo Servers are fine-tuned for performance, and can deliver up to 20x faster page load speeds when compared to competing reseller hosting solutions.

Step 3: Choose a Beautiful WordPress Theme

The next step is to actually begin building your site. As one of the most widely-used Content Management Systems (CMSs) in the world, we recommend using WordPress:

After you download and install it, WordPress automatically applies a default theme to your website. However, these default themes are widely used and recognized. If you want to stand out from the crowd, it’s wise to replace the theme with one that is more unique.

WordPress has a large selection of themes that offer various combinations of formatting styles, layouts, fonts, and other visual elements. The right WordPress theme can provide a strong foundation for bringing your creative vision to life, and can help you create a professionally designed website fast – even if you have no previous experience.

You’ll find a range of free options in the official WordPress Theme Directory:

There are also many premium WordPress themes that you can source from reputable marketplaces, including ThemeForest, TemplateMonster, and MOJO Marketplace:

Once you’ve found a theme that offers everything you want, it’s important to ensure that it’s safe to use. An outdated, poorly-developed or maintained theme can introduce bugs, compatibility errors, and security vulnerabilities into your business website.

By acquiring your theme from a reputable source, you’re already off to a strong start. However, it’s always a good idea to check the theme’s reviews.

In particular, it’s smart to pay attention to the latest reviews, as these will often indicate whether there’s an issue with the current release. You can also check whether your chosen theme meets WordPress’s official review standards.

After choosing your WordPress theme, you may want to tweak certain elements. If you’re craving some customization, we recommend checking out a page builder plugin such as Elementor. You can also look into our WordPress Hosting as well!

Step 4: Set Your Site Up for SEO Success

SEO is the key to improving your site’s ranking in the SERPs. When moving your business online, this can deliver the traffic you need to grow your customer base.

To set your new site up for SEO success, we recommend installing a dedicated SEO plugin. Popular choices include Yoast SEO and All In One SEO Pack.

As you’re creating your content, these tools provide actionable recommendations for how to improve your on-site SEO:

It’s also wise to optimize your permalink structure. This can help search engines understand each page’s contents, which is vital for SEO.

You can examine your site’s permalink structure by navigating to Settings > Permalinks. For best results, we recommend appending each URL with the post name (/%postname%/).

You might also want to prefix the post name with the post category (/%category%/%postname%/). By making this decision early, you can ensure that you’re using a clear, consistent permalink structure from your very first post.

Step 5: Boost Your Business Site’s Security

Security is a huge concern for most website owners. However, it’s particularly important for business sites, as they often handle sensitive customer data such as customer names, addresses, and payment information.

If a malicious third party does manage to breach your website, they could potentially access this confidential customer data. If someone’s private information is compromised as a result of your website, it could be disastrous for your reputation.

At A2 Hosting, we offer a range of features that are designed to help protect your business against hackers. This includes HackScan Protection, brute-force defense, and a dual firewall.

Even if your site is subjected to an advanced Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, our Reinforced DDoS Protection can help keep your site online throughout the incident. This ensures that you can continue selling your products and promoting your services without interruption. It can also minimize the damage to your reputation, as visitors will be completely unaware that hackers are targeting your site.

In addition to choosing the right hosting provider, it’s important to install a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. This can help protect your site and your visitors by encrypting all sensitive data and user activity. If you’re an A2 Hosting customer, we provide you with an SSL certificate.

You might also use a website firewall to block malicious traffic before it reaches your website. The Sucuri plugin is a popular choice, as it provides a Domain Name System (DNS) Level Website Firewall that can route your traffic through cloud proxy servers:

Sucuri also offers a range of additional security services. This includes scanning and monitoring your website for signs that it may have been compromised, and removing any detected malware.

Step 6: Enhance Your Site With WordPress Plugins

Plugins are one of WordPress’ greatest strengths. There’s a plugin to help you accomplish almost any task you can imagine.

If you’re selling physical or downloadable products, WooCommerce is a popular e-commerce plugin. This free tool has everything you need to create a wide range of e-commerce sites, and accept payments using popular gateways such as PayPal:

As we mentioned, if you offer appointments, you may want to give customers the option to book directly from your business website. This can help drive conversions, as many customers prefer to make their bookings digitally rather than calling the business.

There are many scheduling plugins available for WordPress. Popular options include Simply Schedule Appointments, Booking Calendar, and WP Simple Booking Calendar.

There’s also a chance that visitors may have questions about your business. There are many plugins that can help you provide answers to these questions, including live chat plugins such as 3CX Live Chat and LiveChat:

Alternatively, you might want to consider using a chatbot. According to research, more than 67 percent of consumers worldwide used a chatbot for customer support in 2019.

This suggests that customers are happy to use chatbots where available. You can add one to your business website using a plugin such as ChatBot:

Regardless of the type of plugins you choose, it’s important to use those tools safely. WordPress plugins add code to your website, which can mean more vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. A study even found that 98 percent of WordPress vulnerabilities are linked to these add-ons.

To use plugins safely, it’s important to always download them from a reputable source, such as the official WordPress Directory. We also recommend checking each plugin’s reviews carefully, and keeping your installed solutions up to date.

Step 7: Optimize Your Website’s Performance

There’s evidence to suggest that 40 percent of people abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load. This can have a devastating impact on your conversions and revenue. For example, if you’re running an e-commerce site that makes $100,000 per day, a one-second page delay could potentially cost you $2.5 million in lost sales over the course of a year.

Your choice of hosting provider will have a huge impact on your page loading times. However, there are also steps you can take to improve your website’s performance.

Beautiful, high-resolution images are essential for catching the attention of potential customers. Unfortunately, they can also increase your page loading times – especially for e-commerce stores, which typically contain a large number of product images.

You can reduce the size of an image without affecting the quality using lossy compression. You can perform this kind of compression using either the free TinyPNG service or the TinyPNG plugin:

Your page load times are also determined by server location. You can often improve page load times by using a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

This is a technique for reducing latency caused by geographical distances. A CDN uses geolocation routing to detect the origin of the user’s requests. The visitor will then receive your website and resources from the data center that’s physically closest to them.

Finally, you might want to consider using a WordPress caching plugin, such as W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache. These tools won’t reduce page load times on the customer’s first visit, but they can significantly speed up your website on subsequent visits.

Conclusion

Moving your business online may sound intimidating. However, you don’t need to be a technical expert or professional designer to build an engaging business website.

To set your site up for success, it’s important to get the foundations right. By opting for a hosting provider that offers speed-optimized servers, you can create a website that’s 20X faster than your competitors. After impressing your customers with your lightning-fast speeds, you can seal the deal with a professionally designed WordPress theme.

To minimize the administrative work associated with running a successful business site, we recommend choosing a provider that offers both domain registration and web hosting. At A2 Hosting, we have a Domain Registration tool that you can use to find your perfect web address, and a range of hosting packages to suit your exact business needs!

Related Resources

• How to Register Your Domain
• Backing Up Your Data
• Guides to Getting on the Internet and Networking
• Starting Your Blog

Image credits: Pexels.

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