What is an Email Blacklist? 

The email blacklist is an extensive database of public domains and IP addresses marked as suspicious for sending spam emails through the internet. It’s also known as DNSBL (Domain Name System-based Blackhole List) or RBL Real-time Blackhole List. Organizations like Email Service Providers (ESP), Internet Service Providers (ISP), and anti-spam agencies (ASA) use this list to detect, monitor and block any spam emails entering their network. 

Am I Blacklisted? What Are the Signs?

There are many signs to alert you of your IP’s status. When you’re blacklisted, you can’t send emails to the recipient’s mailbox properly. Now, this doesn’t mean you’re going to be blacklisted from every mail server in the world. If you’re blacklisted with one DNSBL service, there are hundreds more that may not have blacklisted you. A few key signs:

1. There are an increased number of emails lost. 
2. You experience deteriorating delivery rates.
3. You find a high number of email bounce rates. 

These don’t confirm you’re blacklisted but are some warning signs. If you check a few of the boxes for delivery issues, you can now check to confirm the blacklisting of the domain or IP address. 

Checking Your IP address and Domain in an Email Blacklist Directory

There are various email blacklist services on the internet. It’s not practical to check every single one of them, but some applications maintain a list of live RBL (real-time blackhole list) directories to save your time. They provide a page dedicated to that RBL service and also offer a service to delist your domain or IP address. 

Here are a couple of popular RBL applications:

• MXToolBox: This checks for domain blacklisting across multiple RBL lists. It provides detailed information and suggestions on your domain’s current status. 
• MultiRBL: This is a free DNSBL lookup site that can scan 100+ DNSBL lists to check for domain blacklisting. It also details the steps to remove your domain from the blacklist. 

Malicious sites can be blacklisted by Google Safe Browsing, which will warn visitors of potentially unsafe pages. Dropmysite includes a feature that sends you alerts if your site is listed on this blacklist monitoring program – so take immediate corrective actions before it gets too late! A2 Hosting offers Dropmysite as an add-on cPanel plugin so that you can back up your data and monitor your websites. These services can help you actively monitor your IP address so that you can ensure swift delivery of all of your emails. 

Blacklists are an important tool for email deliverability. They help protect email users from spam and phishing emails and improve the deliverability of your legitimate email campaigns. If you’re not familiar with blacklists or aren’t sure if your IP address is on one, we encourage you to use a blacklist checking tool. Use this information to clean up your email practices and improve your chances of getting delivered to the inbox. If you have any more questions or concerns feel free to contact our support team 24/7/365!

Related Articles:

• How to stop unwanted e-mail using Spam Filters
• How To Prevent Outgoing Email From Being Marked As Spam
• How to monitor blacklisted sites using Dropmysite

The post What Is An Email Blacklist? appeared first on The A2 Posting.

What is a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)? 

A Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) is a domain name consisting of three parts: the hostname, the domain name, and the top-level domain. The hostname is the specific computer or device on the network that you want to use the FQDN for. The domain name is the section of the FQDN that uniquely identifies your network. The top-level domain is the highest level of classification for domains and is assigned by ICANN. For example, when you type “www.google.com” into your web browser, “www” is the hostname, “google” is the domain name, and “.com” is the top-level domain. 

Different computer types use different terminology for FQDNs like network names or full computer names. 

Why should I use an FQDN? 

FQDNs indicate unique addresses on the internet. If you don’t have an FQDN, you don’t have an accessible website. They’re required for installing SSL certificates, imperative to the security of your website. 

Apart from having an accessible website, FQDNs are also useful to have a discoverable computer on an internet network, like when you need to access a computer remotely. This is common in an office to track a computer’s activity. 

Also, FQDNs help you access domain services like FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and email. For example, if you want to connect your domain name’s email to an email app on your phone like Gmail or Apple Mail, you need to know the FQDN for the mail server, which is typically something like “mail.yourdomainname.com.” 

Here is an example of an FQDN:

1. www.a2hosting.com
2. mail.a2hosting.com
3. ftp.a2hosting.com

How to find your FQDN

If you’re not sure how to find your FQDN, please review the following links: 

Find your FQDN for Windows OS (operating systems).

Find your FQDN for macOS.

When you generate a domain name, it should contain three parts. The first part is the hostname which identifies the specific computer or device on your network that will be using this FQDN. The second part of an FQDN is the domain name and it uniquely identifies your company’s network. Finally, there is the top-level domain (TLD) which classifies domains as either generic or country-code TLDs such as .com for commercial purposes. If you need help viewing any of these components within your own FQDN contact our support team today!  

Related Articles:

• How to manage cPanel Mail Exchanger (MX) records
• How to use the DNS Zone Editor in cPanel
• How to verify site ownership with Google
• How to determine your account’s server name

The post What Is a Fully Qualified Domain Name? 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.

New Updates!

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.

Looking to learn more in-depth about the security included with all these plans? Below is an explanation of the different security tools and features included and how this can help you make sure your website is safe and secure.

The Importance of Security on Websites Using WordPress

When there’s a huge demand for a script or CMS, there’s a good chance that hackers and attackers will be keeping an eye on websites using it. At any one time, there could be hundreds or thousands of attacks happening on the internet. This makes WordPress websites a target.

As such, hackers will always be scanning WordPress websites for vulnerable areas. This means website owners who don’t properly prepare and secure their WordPress sites may be at risk. This is why you need to keep the security on your website in tip-top shape! Below are the features we offer at A2 Hosting on our Managed WordPress plans to help ensure your security success.

Managed WordPress Security Features

A2 Hosting’s new Managed WordPress plans now come with a selection of enhanced security features that have been designed to support our users such as HackScan Protection, Reinforced DDoS Protection, and KernelCare. We’re including a complete breakdown below of three of the main tools we will be including in the plans and the different security features they provide our users:

WordPress Toolkit

We include different levels of cPanel’s WordPress Toolkit on all of our WordPress plans. Below are some of the main security perks:

• 1-Click Hardening: Used to scan existing and new sites for settings that may be potentially vulnerable.
• Automatic Hardening: This can keep your site safe through the auto-application of the industry’s best practices in security.
• Mass Hardening: Scans all your sites for vulnerable settings while securing every site with just a click.
• Security Rollback: In rare cases, security updates may create compatibility issues on your website. This feature will allow you to quickly revert the changes made.
• Mass Updates: This allows you to execute updates for all of your website’s WordPress themes, core, and plugins.

Jetpack Security

We will also be including the popular Jetpack Plugin. This plugin comes with a multitude of security features including:

• Automated Spam Filtering: Protects your site by keeping spam content away.
• Brute Force Attack Protection: Works to keep your website safe by blocking unsafe login attempts from distributed attacks and malicious botnets.
• Free Daily Malware Scans (Included with our Fly & Sell Plans): This feature automatically checks your site for vulnerabilities such as malware. You’ll also receive immediate alerts if Jetpack finds problems to be addressed quickly.

A2 Optimized

All of our plans also come with our plugin, A2 Optimized. We’ve focused on various security measures with A2 Optimized, which include the following:

• Deny Direct Access to Configuration Files and Comment Form: This allows you to protect your configuration files by creating a Forbidden error to bots and web users who try to access WP configuration files.
• Lock Editing of Plugins and Themes from the WP Admin: This prevents exploits to use the built-in editing capabilities of the WP Admin.
• Login URL Change: With this, you can hide your wp-login and wp-admin pages, blocking off hackers from entry through brute force attacks.
• Regenerate wp-config salts: WP salts and security keys help to secure the site’s login process along with the cookies that WordPress implements to authenticate users.
• ReCAPTCHA on Comments and Login: Used to increase site security while decreasing spam by adding a CAPTCHA to the login screen and comment forms.
• Unused Themes & Inactive Plugin Notifications: Themes and plugins with security flaws can still have an impact on the site. Having these notifications can help you better manage other features on your site for improved security.

cPanel Security Features

There is also a wide range of improvements to cPanel’s Security. This includes:

• Directory Privacy: Blocks users who want to open a folder that you’ve designated for protection. They will first need to enter a username and password for access.
• Free SSL Certificate (Free RapidSSL On Sell plans): This allows you to secure pages on your website so that details such as credit card numbers, logins, and more are sent encrypted instead of plain text.
• Hotlink Protection: Stops your images from being used on other sites.
• Imunify360: A comprehensive security suite for real-time and proactive website protection. It provides an all-in-one security solution that features a Web Application Firewall, an Intrusion Prevention and Detection system, a Network Firewall, Patch Management, and Real-time Antivirus protection.
• IP Blocker: Blocks a range of IP addresses to stop hackers from getting access to your site.
• Leech Protection: Stops users from publicly posting or sharing passwords to restricted areas of your site.
• ModSecurity: Provides real-time monitoring for incoming threats and blocks malicious connections before reaching your WordPress website and applications.
• Patchman: This scans your account for any outdated WP malware scripts, vulnerabilities, and applications. It will then fix any vulnerabilities without doing damage to the site.
• SSH: Provides more secure file transfers.
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): If turned on, it will require the app on your smartphone to provide a unique security code that you must input apart from your password when trying to log into your account.
• Virus Scanner: Configurable scan of your account to identify any security threats.

Need Help? Ask Our Guru Crew

If you need support or just have a few WordPress Hosting questions, you can count on our expert Sales team! Working 24/7/365, our friendly and knowledgeable staff are more than happy to address any concerns or issues. You may also reach them via email, phone, or live chat, so you can get the answers you need when you need them.

The post New Managed WordPress Enhanced Security Features with A2 Hosting appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Why do you need WordPress Under Construction Pages

You need either Coming Soon or Maintenance mode page prepared for your site for the following reason:

• Inform your potential visitors about your new site, and its launch date
• Collect information about your visitors with a contact us or subscription form
• Inform visitors about launch promotions
• Keep your site users on the maintenance duration and its duration
• Avoid losing SEO traffic by having the right response page.

Types of Under Construction Pages

When you create a new WordPress site and want your visitors to be aware of the launch date, a Coming Soon page is displayed. The maintenance mode page, on the other hand, is displayed when you are updating or performing routine maintenance tasks on your WordPress site. The Under Construction or maintenance mode page should clearly state the duration of the site’s downtime and include a 503 response code. The 503 response code informs search engines that the site will be restored, preventing any SEO issues.

Popular WordPress Under Construction Page Plugin

There are numerous WordPress plugins available that allow you to easily create both of these pages for your site while maintaining a professional look and feel. The following are some of the most popular WordPress Under Construction page plugins.

Seed Prod

SeedProd is a freemium plugin available in the WordPress plugin repository. This plugin allows you to easily create professional-looking and customizable “Coming Soon” and Maintenance Mode pages without any scripting knowledge.

The premium version of the SeedProd Coming Soon, Maintenance Mode, and Landing Pages plugin supports custom 404 errors. The free version templates are more than enough for a starter website, and the free pages can be further customized with SeedProd’s built-in page builder.

Refer to this article for a step-by-step tutorial on how to create a Coming Soon or Maintenance mode page with the SeedProd plugin.

WP Maintenance Mode

DesignModo’s WP Maintenance Mode is a free plugin that allows you to create fully customizable maintenance mode pages. It is suitable for multisite installations and includes useful features such as a countdown timer for maintenance duration, contact forms, and a subscription form to collect visitor information that can be downloaded later.

The maintenance mode can be activated immediately after installing the plugin. For more information on the extensive feature set available, go to the official plugin page at https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-maintenance-mode/.

Under Construction Page

The Web Factory Ltd Under Construction Page plugin is a specialized plugin that allows you to quickly and easily create under-construction pages using a drag and drop builder. The free version of this plugin includes unique features such as Google Analytics page visit tracking, the ability to load custom CSS to customize the page, and maintenance mode timers.

Conclusion

Have any questions? Contact our team today and we will be happy to answer them!

The post Why You Need a WordPress Under Construction Page appeared first on The A2 Posting.

1: Promote Weeks Before the Holidays

Be sure to run your holiday email marketing campaign at least a week before holiday festivities begin. The holiday season formally begins during Cyber Week, which includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

These events see a huge number of online transactions annually and it only increases every year. Experts still expect holiday sales to rise despite the global pandemic, making this season a great opportunity to promote your products and services.

2: Offer Last-Minute Deals

The days closest to the big dates require the most intensive holiday email marketing efforts. You want your prospects to rest assured that they have options that ship their orders on time. On-time or even overnight shipping deals are some campaigns you can adopt to convert prospects.

Meanwhile, setting deadlines for orders brings out the urgency in potential customers who may end up taking the deal.

To set a deadline, consider sending emails stating that customers can get their order shipped on time if they order before a certain date.

3: Offer Real Reasons to Buy

While you offer last-minute deals, be sure to avoid giving customers false urgency. Give a real reason that wouldn’t devalue your brand and turn off customers. Perhaps you only offer two discount deals a year, making this holiday season a great opportunity.

4: Analyze Previous Strategies That Worked for You

Although the pandemic brings lucrative opportunities for online shopping during the holidays, auditing your marketing campaigns in the past can still help improve your performance. Review the strategies you adopted and then identify which areas need finetuning.

Consider auditing customer statistics as well. Identify which items they value most and tailor your messages to target them.

5: Understand Your Customer

The previous strategy can help you understand who your buyers are. Be sure to create a marketing campaign that speaks directly to your customers. Consumers who feel that a brand can solve their pain points are more likely to support their products and services.

Once you know who you are selling to, you can adjust your strategy to grab their attention. You would also set yourself apart from your competition by having a loyal consumer base.

6: Segment Your Email List

Segmenting your customers helps you sell different products to existing customers and even upsell to them. It is also related to identifying your audience. Dividing your customer demographics helps you target variations of your messages that match their voice. In other words, you would speak one way to VIP customers and another with newer customers who have yet to close a purchase.

7: Remind Loyal Customers Why They Subscribe

If your brand has a mission that’s months in the making, the holiday season may be a great time to remind your customers of their goals outside of the products you offer. This mission may be the reason why your customers stuck around in the first place.

8: Limit Your Emails

Avoid sending out too many emails to the point that customers get turned off from buying. Too many promotional emails may even make customers unsubscribe.

Conclusion

The best holiday email marketing campaign involves understanding your audience, prompt preparation, and careful limitation. Once you know you know your target audience, you can tailor your messages to reach specific members of your audience.

Your emails should lead your subscribers to your website and convert sales. You’ll want to optimize your site to keep up with your customers this holiday season. Get in touch with our experts at A2 Hosting and ask about our hosting plans. We can help speed up your site so all traffic from your holiday email marketing campaign converts.

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 to Create the Best Holiday Email Strategy appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Why is Google Tag Manager Right for You?

Google Tag Manager is a great tool for any website owner. Google Tag Manager (GTM) allows you to manage code script, track conversion, and efficiently use a single dashboard. It comes with templates for Google Analytics, Adwords, and works well with some tracking platforms. Any edits to scripts can be done via GTM and then applied to the whole site.

Installing and Setting Up Google Tag Manager for WordPress

To begin, you must have a google analytics account before you proceed with the Google Tag Manager installation. If you don’t, go to the Google Tag Manager website and sign up using the same Google account you used with Google Analytics.

Follow these steps to install and setup Google Tag Manager:

1. Sign up for the Google Tag Manager using the same account used for the Google Analytics account.

2. On the create new account page, give a name for your account and click on the continue button.

3. Give an account name, container name, choose the target platform, and click on the create button to create a container. You can have multiple containers in one account:4. Next you will be redirected to the container dashboard:

5. Once you have created a container, the next step is to create a tag.

Creating Page View Tag on Google Tag Manager 

Now we will show you how to create a new Page View Tag. Follow these steps:

1. On the dashboard, click on New Tag:

2. Give a name for the tag, and then click on the Tag Configuration section, to choose the tag type:

3. Choose the tag type. For this blog, we will use the Google Analytics: Universal Analytics

4. Next step is to configure the tag. On the Tag Configuration screen, check the “Enable overriding settings in this tag” option. Get the Tracking ID code from your Google Analytics account and paste it into the Tracking ID.

5. A tracking ID is a special code that allows Google to identify your site. Login into your Google Analytics account, under the admin tab, copy the tracking ID from the tracking info.

6. Next on the Trigger section, choose the trigger type. Here we will choose the Page View trigger for All Pages:

7. Click on Save after you enter your tracking ID. You should see the tag on your dashboard:

Adding Tag Manager Code in WordPress

1. To begin, click on the GTM ID on the top navigation bar to retrieve the GTM code. Edit the header.php template and paste the code right after <body> tag.

2. Alternatively, you can use Insert Headers and Footers plugin and use it to paste the GTM code.

3. The final step to complete this Google Tag Manager setup is to use the Google Tag Manager dashboard to publish the container.

Conclusion

There are many different ways to install and configure the Google Tag Manager for WordPress. This blog showed you how to set up the Google Tag Manager and create a page view tag. Google Tag Manager has many useful integrations. Visit the Google Tag Manager page to get more information. 

Looking for great hosting for your WordPress site? Look no further! With A2 Hosting’s Managed WordPress plans you can get 24/7/365 support, 99.9% uptime, and all the tools you need to better manage your WordPress website. Contact our sales team today with any questions!

Related Resources:

How to use Google Analytics with WordPress

Using Google Analytics & WordPress

How to Integrate Google Analytics With WordPress (In 3 Steps)

The post How to Install and Set Up Google Tag Manager on WordPress appeared first on The A2 Posting.

During the Holiday season, your products and their descriptions should be well displayed so you can increase your conversions as you drive lots of traffic to your eCommerce website. Read our blog about how to take your product descriptions to the next level. Before explaining what makes up a well-written product description (i.e. a description that increases your sale conversion rates), we first need to ground ourselves on what a product description is.

What is a Product Description?

A product description is a statement that gives the characteristics of some type of product or service that should elicit a mental image to your customer. The real power of product descriptions comes from the intent behind them. When you’re writing product descriptions you shouldn’t just be writing copy about the characteristics of what you’re selling, you need to show your target customers what they will experience if they purchase your product. This is a great example of experiential marketing. You want to immerse your target customers in your products so they can see how what you’re selling them will change their lives for the better if they decide to purchase it. 

Who Is Your Target Customer?

Before you can properly describe this “ideal product experience” to your customer you need to identify who they are and empathize with them. If you don’t know who your target customer is, you won’t be able to write proper descriptions and your efforts will fall short of the mark.  If you’re saying to yourself “but I sell to a wide audience and I have more than one target customer” then now’s the time to pinpoint the consumers that are most important to your business.

You can do this by using the 80/20 rule. On average, 80% of sales come from 20% of your customers. If you’re trying to narrow down and find your target audience it would make sense to start by examining the top 20% of those who purchase from you already. Use past purchasing data and gather customer profiles of your top 20% of customers. Now examine these profiles and look for patterns in their demographics and psychographics. Use these patterns to create personas. Personas are fictional customers that you can give a name, sex, age, career etc. By visualizing your customers in this way it is easier to write directly to them and create product descriptions that they would find appealing. 

How Do I Show and Not Tell?

When writing product descriptions, it’s important to remember to use clear and descriptive language. You need to show your customers the benefits of your products rather than just telling them what they are.

For example, for a service product don’t just tell your customer, “Our _______ service is reliable.” Instead, show them how reliable it is in your description: “Our ____ service is backed by uncompromising Service Level Agreement that guarantees 99.9% uptime, a support staff with expert admins availability 24/7/365, and a 30-day hassle-free 100% money-back guarantee.” 

Now that you’ve written the second description put yourself in your personas’ shoes and see how reading your description makes you feel. When you read the second attempt do you feel safer in your choice of purchasing the above service? Do you visualize the support that is available and understand how this service is actually reliable rather than it being an abstract idea? If you answered yes to both questions then it means this description is effective. It’s showing your customers what you want them to experience with your services rather than just telling them something that they can easily forget. 

Can’t I Just Use Pictures of My Products?

While high-quality images are important, search engines can’t see images – or not yet anyway. Images of your products may speak 1,000 words to your target customers and convey the emotion you’re trying to share, but they do little for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). To get your site to rank and become visible to potential customers, you must include product descriptions that are loaded with potential keywords. That way your site will begin to rank for related words to your products and your site will show up in more relevant google searches. 

How Do I Make My Product Descriptions Uniquely Mine?

The bottom line is, your brand needs to be authentically itself and your product descriptions should embody this.  To get noticed, your description copy needs to break through any commoditization noise that may surround your product.  Don’t just look at your competition and try to write a description that’s 10% better, add something unique in your product’s description copy that directly taps into your brand’s authentic self.

In Conclusion

Business owners that take the time to write great product descriptions can gain an edge over the competition. Great product descriptions can mean the difference between success and failure for eCommerce sites. So remember: embody your target customer, show rather than tell the experience you’re promising, include keywords for better SEO, and let your brand’s unique personality shine through. Follow this simple advice to boost your conversions and eCommerce sales during the Holiday season!

Do you know what else has a big impact on conversions? Your website’s speed and uptime! Keep coming back to our blog this week to read advice from our A2 Hosting experts on how to get your site ready for Q4! We’re also running a sale on all of our A2 Turbo products so check out our website today for deals and discounts you don’t want to miss!

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 to Write Better Product Descriptions that Drive eCommerce Sales During the Holidays appeared first on The A2 Posting.

According to Google’s latest Core Vitals update, Part 2 will be rolling out in the next couple of weeks. Before this next update occurs, you’ll want to anticipate how this may affect your website and make changes accordingly. 

Introduction to the Core Web Vitals

Google’s Core Web Vitals initiative provides streamlined guidelines that aid in promoting a quality user experience on the World Wide Web. Wait, huh? 

They are metrics measuring the overall perceived user experience based on interactions with your website. You will receive a score based on your page’s overall UX. This page experience score is an official Google ranking factor. The question is, will you be among the mighty or the fallen?

How can I find my site’s Core Web Vitals?

First, you will need to sign up your domain with Google Search Console. Once your domain is verified and you have an account, you can continue to the enhancements section.

So what are the Core Web Vitals?

A quick Google search will show you this image,

Google loves their acronyms (and their primary colors), but what exactly do these acronyms stand for?

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures perceived page load speed. Strive for <=2.5s. 

What this means: This is the time from when the link is first clicked to when the main content is loaded and visible to the user on the screen.

Okay, but how is this any different from Time to First Byte? (TTFB) This measures the user’s experience and not simply the responsiveness of the web server.

How can I improve my site’s LCP? 

• Upgrade your server. Not a member with A2 Hosting or already a member and interested in upgrading? Let us help you.
  • Our Turbo servers use a drop-in Apache replacement called Litespeed, but are also built with NVMe storage, and the AMD EPYC processors making these the perfect upgrade for sites in need of additional power. 

• Consider a Content Delivery Network (CDN). Since your content is hosted on a single server, users farther from this server will have slower load times. A CDN will provide a link to both your server and any faraway users. Our servers are CloudFlare compatible so you can easily set this up.

• Compress images. In many cases, images are the largest element on a page. Improving the load and render time for these images has a direct impact on improving your LCP score.

For more suggestions, Google has a guide on optimizing LCP. Here are 3 platforms we recommend for measuring your website’s performance.

First Input Delay (FID) measures load responsiveness and interactivity. Strive for <=100ms.

What this means: This is the time from when a user first interacts with the site to the time it takes for a browser to respond.

What are some examples of these interactions?

• Clicking a link
• Tapping on a button
• Choosing an option from the dropdown menu

I get it but how is this different from page-load speed? FID does not simply measure load responsiveness, it measures the time it takes for users to interact with a page. 

How can I improve my site’s FID? 

• Reduce Javascript Execution. Optimize how JavaScript functions on your website. 

• Use a web worker. 

• Use a browser cache like Litespeed. Our Turbo servers include Litespeed, the fastest caching agent you can find. 

Read Google’s full guide on optimizing your FID. Here are 3 platforms we recommend for measuring your website’s performance.

Source.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures visual elements and overall design stability. Strive for <=0.1s. 

What this means: The elements on your page are stable as the page loads.

Users don’t want to play a game of “Link Tetris” where elements of your page are constantly moving around as it loads. Users want stability and reliability.

How can I improve my site’s CLS? 

• Include width and height size attributes to images and video elements. This guarantees image stability as the image is loading on the page.

• • Reduce ad shift. Strategically place, reserve static space, and include set dimensions for advertisements.

• Avoid inserting new content above existing content. The user remembers your site layout a certain way. Be careful with dynamic content or else your user will be left confused and frustrated.

Read Google’s full guide on optimizing your CLS. Here are 3 platforms we recommend for measuring your website’s performance.

How can I measure my Core Vitals?

Google offers a myriad of tools for measuring these elements. These tools include: 

• Lighthouse 
• PageSpeed Insights
• Chrome DevTools
• Search Console
• Web.dev’s measure tool
• Web Vitals Chrome extension 
• Chrome UX Report API

What other web vitals are there?

Is my website mobile-friendly?

Your site should be fully optimized for a mobile device with responsive themes, larger font sizes, and an accessible site navigator, among other practices. 

Check if your site is mobile-friendly here.

Does my site allow for safe browsing?

Your site should be free of malware, other harmful content, and deceptive downloads.

We’ve partnered with Sucuri services to provide superior website monitoring, firewall protection, and enhanced malware scanning services. 

Is my connection safe with HTTPS?

The connection to your website needs to be secure. To achieve this, you will need to add an SSL certificate.

Not sure if you have an SSL certificate? The method of finding out will depend on your browser, either:

• Look for https:// in your address bar. If it says http:// then your URL is unencrypted. 

OR

• Look for a closed padlock icon at the beginning of your address bar. If it isn’t present, your browser may say “Not Secure.”

An example of a site with a secure connection and encrypted data.

Beware of hackers! An example of a site with an insecure connection and unencrypted data.

Is my site free of intrusive interstitials?

Your site should be free of extraneous content and unnecessary pop-ups covering the majority of a webpage. 

Hopefully, by now you feel educated on Google’s Core Web Vitals. 

And now your homework for this week:

1. Test each of the Core Web Vitals.
2. Make sure your site mobile is friendly.
3. Add safe browsing-friendly services like Sucuri.
4. Get yourself an SSL certificate.
5. Just say no to those intrusive, pestering interstitials! 

If you’re still a bit confused on how Google Core Vitals impact your website or you’d like to purchase an additional search signal-friendly service, please contact our sales team today.

The post Google’s Core Web Vitals Is Updating and So Should You: A Guide to Optimizing your Site’s UX appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Many businesses start out small and use blogging, social media, and creative content to grow their brand and their online presence. At the beginning, it may be easy to come up with creative ideas and content and post them as they come to you; but as your business starts to grow and you require more and more content it can become challenging to stay organized. A content calendar and well planned social strategy can be helpful when trying to market your growing business strategically. 

One of the best ways to drive traffic to your site and your social accounts is through consistency and organization. To ensure both of these, try using a content calendar to inform your social strategy. Many businesses use different types of calendars to organize their posts into campaigns and grow their social following. There are different templates you can find online or through applications like Loomly or Trello. We recommend online options because they give you the capability to store links to your graphics, see real time edits from team members, and connect to scheduling apps like Hootsuite. 

Once you have chosen your calendar option it is important to take inventory of your resources and ask yourself some important questions before beginning to plan your content. First, identify what resources you are working with: 

• What team members are available to help with content creation and planning? (graphic designers, tech writers, social media manager, SEO experts)
• What resources do you have to help you create and organize content? (apps like Penji, Powtoon, Hootsuite etc)

Now it’s time to plan some overarching goals for each platform:

• What’s the main goal you want to achieve from each platform? (things like new lead generation, brand awareness, or thought leadership)
• What’s a way to track your ROI? ( stats like the number of likes, new sales, or follower count)

Next come up with your content workflow strategy. Here is an example:

1. Brainstorm Ideas
2. Create graphics
3. Write copy
4. Edits and checks from other sources
5. Schedule your posts
6. Monitor your audience’s reactions and respond to comments
7. Check social analytics and record new trends
8. Analyze analytics and refine content strategy for next campaign

Once you have your resources accounted for, your goals set, and your content flow down, you can focus on identifying your audience and coming up with ideas for your platform. Your strategy should be a combination of your brand’s purpose, or the value you bring to your customers, and your customers’ interest, or what they care about in relation to your services.

Identifying Your Audience

You need to know your consumers’ wants, what they care about and what they need, in order to understand the content you need to deliver. You can start by doing a deep dive online. Take a look at how people interact with competitors ‘ products. Check social media and see who people are following and what is trending within your field. Look at online forums and the places your customers talk and post. By listening to people: what they say, how they say things, and why they say it, you can start to come up with a list of topics potential customers may want to hear about and where they’ll be more likely to hear it. Once you have identified some trends from your research, you can create personas that represent the different types of buyers you are working with.

For example: Maybe you’re selling web hosting online and you notice that everyone is commenting on the new WordPress Esperanza update. You listen to the feedback and you identify a few different types of users:

• Customers who are confused with the update who’s sites have broken or now have errors they can’t fix
• Customers who love the update and have already improved their sites

You can use this information and how people are discussing it to create two different types of personas and feed content to each of them. 

Brainstorming Your Content

A good feed has a solid content mix. This could include blog posts, email drip campaigns, social posts, white papers etc. There are three layers of content that are important to include in any good feed.

The Top Layer

The first, most basic level has the highest amount of content with the least amount of brand value. These posts are based on your customers’ broad interests and are loosely connected to your brand. They should be aimed at people who may not be aware of who you are or what you do, but are interested in the subject you are posting about and will therefore connect with you if they see you posting about it. These posts are to get consumers attention and to lead them to look into your brand. 

For example: Based on the previous approach, let’s say you’ve decided to target your less technical crowd who had questions about the latest WordPress update. They may be asking themselves things like: I keep getting these updates with no warning. I don’t understand how to work this new menu. Why are my pictures suddenly not showing up correctly?

There are three main things your top layer of content should do while addressing these problems:

• Get potential customers’ initial attention
• Have a long standing, positive impact on your brand
• Reveal how your business can help consumers with their problems

In order to accomplish this you need to know what types of media your customers are consuming, what will attract their attention, and their demographic information so you can properly target them.

Some examples of types of content that you could use to inform them are:

• Social media post and ads
• Short video content
• Influencers and endorsements
• Blogs with high SEO value
• Introductory emails

The Middle Layer

The middle of your marketing funnel is content that is speaking to customers that have just begun to consider to buy your products or services. There should be less of this content than the previous section, but each post should have a little more value. At this point you have formed some sort of previous relationship with the customers you are targeting and you are running a platform where you are able to  produce educational content for them. Now, each post you make should have some type of call to action to convince the buyer to move to the next stage of the buying process.

For example: At this phase your consumers may be thinking: I found a few different web designers and businesses to help me figure out how to optimize my WordPress off of Instagram and blogs. But maybe I can fix this myself with a google search? That guy on YouTube last week probably submitted a video that could help me too! Or I could look into hosting solutions are well to see if they can help me.

Your next layer of content needs to:

• Explain the problems your customer is having and how you can solve them
• Answer any issues your customer might have about your offered solutions
• Tell your buyers the benefits of going with your solution over someone else’s

The buyers you are targeting with this content are not ready to purchase from your company yet and they need to know you are an intelligent voice in the industry. This is your opportunity to make a good impression on potential customers and prove to them your brand value and expertise.

Some examples of types of content that fit this area are:

• An email drip campaign
• Newsletters
• Blogs that are more in-depth and less SEO based
• How to’s and content that teach your customers something
• News that is relevant to your business area

The Bottom Layer

Finally, the bottom of your marketing funnel is your chance to convince your customers to buy from you. This is where you use your most valuable brand content. This content is meant to convert serious shoppers into buyers. You’ve already created a relationship with this audience and they are already interested in choosing your specific brand for their problem, so this is your chance to close the deal. 

For example: At this last phase, your buyer now would be thinking: So I’ve established the guy on YouTube didn’t help and there’s companies online that I could pay to do it right in half the amount of time I would have to spend figuring this out. Should I do a price comparison to pick which one? Maybe take a deep dive into their reviews and go from there?

Here are some main things this content should accomplish:

• Represent your product without directly asking for the sale 
• Demonstrate how your solutions work and the specific features you offer
• Explain how your customer would benefit if they bought from you

You want this type of content to naturally flow into a place where you customer is willing to purchase. Did you include a link to your store? A coupon for in purchase discounts?

Here are some examples of content that would fit:

• Customer testimonials
• Case studies
• Webinars
• Products features and demonstrations of how they work
• Coupons
• Giveaways

Now Go Implement that Content Strategy!

Now you have your flourishing business, your employees to help market, you know your audience and how to contact them at each step of the customer buying process… So what’s left? 

It’s time to start planning those campaigns! Figure out your posting frequency, the best times to post, and how much of each type of content to post on each platform. You have all the tools and types of content you need for each funnel. You have the calendar ready. Now it’s time to go meet with those marketing teams and start planning out what you want your company to communicate to your audience and when you want to do it!

Click below for more helpful posts on how to push traffic to your site and build up your following! And if you’re looking for blog hosting or fast and reliable web hosting for your new online store, we have you covered as well!

Related Resources:

• How to Conduct a Content Audit for Your Blog
• 7 Ways to Grow Your Blog Traffic with Social Media
• How to Maximize SEO with Permalinks
• How to Install WebCalendar Using Softaculous
• How to Install Booked Using Softaculous

The post How to Create an Effective Content Strategy to Grow Your Brand appeared first on The A2 Posting.