SiteCare

Have you ever clicked on a link, expecting to dive into a website, only to be met with a frightening ⚠️ warning declaring your connection is not secure? Or have you ever noticed a line slashing through the padlock icon in the address bar? This is a red flag indicating the website might be having issues with its 🔒 SSL certificate or doesn't have one at all. So, what exactly is an SSL, and why should you care? SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a security protocol that encrypts the data transmitted between your browser and the website, safeguarding your privacy and authentication. If you encounter a site without proper security, refrain from filling out forms, logging in, or sharing sensitive information like credit card details or personal identification numbers. If your own website is grappling with SSL issues, it's crucial to address them for three key reasons: 1. Protect User Data: SSL encrypts the information transmitted from your site, ensuring it remains secure. 2. Build Trust: A secured site boosts visitors' confidence in your website. 3. Boost SEO: Google considers SSL a ranking factor, impacting your search engine visibility. In today's digital age, SSL certificates are typically easy to install and often included in most hosting plans, so there's no excuse not to have one. If securing your site with an SSL feels challenging or your hosting provider doesn’t offer them freely, explore our plans! Each of our plans includes enterprise-level hosting and a free SSL to encrypt your site, ensuring your visitors' data is protected. Discover more at https://hubs.li/Q02FJDx30.

One of the first things we do with every website we onboard is to disable the theme and plugin file editors. This step is a non-negotiable part of our onboarding process, and for good reason. Over the years, we’ve encountered clients who initially resist this change, not realizing the risks associated with keeping these editors enabled. Here are our top 4 reasons to disable the theme and plugin editors on your #WordPress site: 1. Security Threats: If a malicious individual gains access to your WordPress dashboard, they could manipulate your site’s files or inject harmful code. 2. User Errors: Even the smallest mistake by an inexperienced user can cause critical site errors. 3. Lack of Version Control: The built-in editors don’t offer version control, making it hard to track changes or revert to previous states. 4. Risk of Overwrites: Editing theme and plugin files directly can lead to your changes being overwritten by developer updates, especially if not done correctly. In essence, disabling these editors enhances your site’s security and reduces the risk of breakages due to accidental code changes. So, if using the theme and plugin editors is risky, how can you safely make similar modifications? 1. Backup First: Always back up your site before making any code changes. 2. Use a Child Theme: Customizations should be made in a child theme to avoid being overwritten by updates. 3. Secure Access: Use SFTP for secure file access. 4. Version Control: Implement version control to track and manage changes. 5. Hire SiteCare: Let our expert team handle your code changes for you! 😉 Tweaking your website’s code is no small task. Done incorrectly, it can lead to lost work or downtime. The SiteCare team, from account managers to developers, is well-versed in making secure and safe code changes. If you need professional support for your website’s files, leave a comment below!

Keeping your PHP version up-to-date is vital for your #WordPress site’s performance and security, but many site owners dread the process. We’ve all heard the horror stories of PHP upgrades causing entire sites to crash. However, we’re here to assure you that upgrading your PHP doesn’t have to be a nightmare. In fact, most downtime from a PHP upgrade can be easily reversed until conflicts are resolved. Think of your website like a tiered cake. WordPress is the top layer, and your web host or web server contains several lower layers, one of which is PHP. If there's a vulnerable or old PHP version running on your website, there's a high likelihood that all of the upper layers come crashing down. There are right and wrong ways to upgrade your PHP version, and following these steps can ensure a smooth transition: 1. Back up your site: This is your safety net. 2. Back up your site: Did you think we were kidding with step 1? 3. Create a staging site with the latest PHP version. This is your testing area. 4. On STAGING, Update all plugins and themes to the latest versions. 5. Check your site’s unique templates and major functionalities: Make sure everything works and displays properly. This is especially important for custom or bespoke themes. 6. Enable debugging and check for deprecations: This will help catch any non-visible errors before they become a problem later on. 7. Assuming everything looks good on the staging site, upgrade your LIVE PHP version through your hosting provider and repeat steps 4 and 5. If the worst happens and your site does go down after a PHP upgrade, reverting to the previous version is typically a quick fix. Encountering fatal errors during testing? Don’t fret. If troubleshooting isn’t your forte, it’s time to call in a developer. At SiteCare, our experienced team has upgraded countless sites to the latest PHP version without a hitch. Need help with your upgrade? Drop a comment below to learn more about our maintenance and support plans.

PHP is the powerhouse behind every WordPress site, and keeping it updated is essential for security and performance. Yet, it’s astonishing how many sites still use outdated versions. A staggering 40.2% of WordPress sites are stuck on PHP 7.4, which reached its end of life in November 2022. That’s a significant number of sites that haven’t updated their PHP version in over a year and a half. We understand—updating PHP can be daunting, and the fear of breaking your site is real. Plus, with many hosts still supporting older versions, the urgency can seem low. But here’s the truth: keeping your PHP up-to-date enhances your site’s performance and security. So, we have to ask: what version of PHP is your site running? Aren't sure how to find your PHP version? Hit us up in the comments.

Achieving optimal health for your website is our ultimate goal. But what exactly does “site health” mean? It’s straightforward. We’ve pinpointed 15 crucial aspects of a WordPress site that, when properly maintained, ensure smooth and secure operation. These aspects, integrated into our SiteCare Score Plugin, cover everything from themes and plugins to PHP versions and beyond. For us, good health means a site that’s up-to-date, safeguarded against vulnerabilities, and accessible to all users and search engines. You’d be amazed at how many sites come to us plagued with abandoned plugins, outdated themes, and unsupported PHP versions. The secret to a thriving site lies in proactive care. Schedule regular scans, maintain consistently, fine-tune settings, and replace obsolete technology. Uncertain about your site’s health or where to begin? Take our SiteCare Score plugin for a test drive and take the first step towards a healthier site! https://hubs.ly/Q02F1YLP0

This June, we proudly introduced the SiteCare Score plugin—a game-changer for WordPress site health 🎉 This powerful tool evaluates the technology behind your WordPress site, assigning it a score from 1 to 100. Not only does it ensure your site is secure and adheres to best practices, but it also tracks your progress over time. Join our Chief of Staff, Ryan Sullivan, as he showcases the SiteCare Score plugin in action. Discover why this plugin is indispensable for maintaining a top-notch WordPress site! #SiteCare #WordPress #SiteHealth #WordPressPlugin #WordPressHealth

Google has made it known that a seamless and fast user experience is a ranking factor. Getting Good scores on Core Web Vitals is essential for improving your SERP rankings and shouldn't be ignored! How do you get started with optimizing your #WordPress site? First, you should figure out where your scoring poorly. Run a scan on https://hubs.li/Q02ClnNx0 or, better yet, pull up your Google Search Console dashboard and check out the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) data for your site. Where you're scoring poorly will give you insights on figuring out the right solution for your site. Is your Interaction to Next Paint more than 200ms? Try installing a code optimization plugin like PerfMatters to improve the time it takes for user's interactions to register in the browser. Cumulative Layout Shift causing users grief by content and interactive elements jumping around on the page? Double-check your image settings. Do they have size attributes defined? A plugin like WP Rocket can help by adding missing image dimensions. Finally, does your Largest Contentful Paint take longer than 2.5 seconds? If so, a caching plugin WP Super Cache will help cache your site's pages so that they can be delivered quickly. Looking for more optimization plugins than the ones mentioned here? Check out our post about performance plugins: https://hubs.li/Q02Cl4720 If you're struggling to get your site scoring Good for Core Web Vitals, then drop us a line in the comments! #CoreWebVitals #SiteOptimization #usability #userexperience

A lot of people's first stop for checking the performance of their site is Google's PageSpeed Insights. However, the way the data is presented in this tool can be misleading or confusing at times. It's important to know that PageSpeed Insights throttles the connection at which they test your site, some might say excessively. With that said, this tool can be extremely useful and provide a lot of insight on where your site could improve performance-wise. So lets dive into how to use it properly. When you first run a scan, you'll see the Core Web Vitals Assessment pop up instantly. It's important to note that the Core Web Vitals section is using data from the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX), which is a 30 day average of your site's performance. Take this section with a grain of salt because it's likely not an accurate representation of your current Core Web Vitals, especially if you've been working on optimizations already. Below the Core Web Vitals Assessment, you'll see the Diagnose Performance Issues section. It can take several minutes for this section to populate due to it scanning and testing the page in real time, so be patient! Once it does load, the information it provides invaluable insights and tips for improving in the areas you may be scoring poorly in. Once everything has loaded, start reviewing the diagnostics. Each section provides key information like how long it took to load, potential savings, and the elements on the page that are causing performance bottlenecks. Some diagnostics, like "serve images in next-gen formats", will even provide information about tools you can use to improve what was measured. Do not be dismayed if your performance score never reaches 100. Due to the throttling PageSpeed Insights performs on its scans, it can be near-impossible for sites to score 100, especially on mobile. The goal is to get your Core Web Vitals in the Good range so if you start to see positive trends for Core Web Vitals, then the optimization work you've done was not in vain. These were just some quick insights on Google's PageSpeed Insights but we put together a whole post detailing how to use this tool and what to look out for: https://hubs.li/Q02CRJ8h0 If you find yourself stuck and no configuration or change you made seems to be improving your Core Web Vitals, then leave us a comment, and we'll schedule a time to discuss how SiteCare can help you achieve your performance dreams. #CoreWebVitals #WordPress #PageSpeedInsights #webperformance

🔎 When was the last time you took a look at where your site stands against Core Web Vitals? Yesterday? A month ago? A year ago? Never?! You don't have to watch your metrics like a hawk, but several tools and services can help you stay informed and monitor your site's performance. Here are our top 3 favorite tools for staying on top of Core Web Vitals: Google Search Console - Nothing is better than the source of truth, Google Search Console and it's free to use! While reporting can be delayed (it can take up to a month to see changes!), Google Search Console does send out alerts when pages have dipped into the Needs Improvement or Poor ranges. Keep an eye out for these emails and check your dashboard every once in a while to stay in the know on your site. DebugBear - we use this tool for real-time tracking of Core Web Vitals. For metrics like Interaction to Next Paint, that require a users interaction, you can install a simple line of code on your WordPress site to enable Real User Monitoring (RUM). DebugBear also allows you to track specific pages and get alerts whenever significant changes to your Core Web Vitals scores exist. Many features of DebugBear, like RUM tracking, are only available for paid accounts GTMetrix - this tool has a monitor feature that, when enabled, will scan your site on a regular basis and email you alerts when your performance dips below certain conditions. You can set these scans to test a page on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and see how your site is trending for Core Web Vitals, Performance, Structure and more. In addition to being able to set up regular scans, GTMetrix offers a plethora of options to test your site against, like throttling and ad-blocking tests. Like DebugBear, many of GTMetrix's features are only available for paid accounts. These three tools can help you find out where your site may be failing at achieving good Core Web Vitals and optimal performance. We at SiteCare use these tools daily to help achieve Good Core Web Vitals for our clients and monitor their sites to ensure they never dip below Good again. If you're having trouble achieving Good Core Web Vitals and improving your WordPress site's performance, then leave us a comment below and we'd be happy to tell you about our Core Web Vitals Guarantee along with the other incredible features of our plans.

We’ve been talking about the three main Core Web Vitals this month: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). These metrics can be affected by various issues, but we’ve found three common mistakes that can harm your site’s performance. Fortunately, these mistakes are easy to fix! ⏰ Your site has a slow Time to First Byte (TTFB): You might think TTFB isn’t a Core Web Vital, but a slow TTFB can impact all three of them. TTFB measures how long it takes for a browser to get the first byte of data from your server. Improving TTFB speeds up your site and improves LCP, INP, and CLS. You can enhance TTFB by using an optimization plugin to minimize code, reduce unused CSS, and cache pages. 🌅 Unoptimized images slow down LCP: Large, unoptimized images are a major cause of slow LCP scores. Fixing this is simple. Reduce image file sizes to under 200KB before uploading them. Use a plugin like Imagify to compress images further and convert them to modern formats like WebP or AVIF. These steps will make your pages load faster and improve LCP. 🖼️ Missing size attributes or placeholders: If your images or dynamic content shift the layout as they load, you have a CLS problem. Make sure all images have size attributes and reserve space for dynamic content. This will prevent layout shifts and provide a smoother experience for your users. Achieving good Core Web Vitals might seem challenging, but addressing these three mistakes will put you on the right track. If you’ve tried these fixes and still need help, leave a comment below. Our support plans guarantee good Core Web Vitals, and we can help your site succeed! #WordPress #largestcontentfulpaint #interactiontonextpaint #cumulativelayoutshift #uxmistakes