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Website Hosting and HPPTS Options

Filed Under: Seo Basics

Google now has the HTTPS website URL as their favorite in their search results

Last year they already mentioned that they will identify https sites as save in Chrome (https://www.searchenginejournal.com/https-required-collecting-sensitive-information-chrome-january-2017/182342/). And you can see for yourself that the Lock icon and the save mark ar on this website.

I recently checked the results for a common search like “build a website” and found that the first 10 results all show https websites.

The first website without https showed up on the 14th spot, all the others on page 2 are also https sites.

Moving from HTTP to HTTPS

Important!!
  1. Always backup your website, including database before you start.
  2. Remember, for Google, this is a site move! So if not done correctly you might lose traffic.

Getting from HTTP to HTTPS need to be supported by your hosting company.

You can buy a full SSL certificate for your domain, and if you have an e-commerce store that should be your first choice.

For a standard website or blog like this one, a Free LetsEncrypt option will do just fine.

With the Siteground Hosting company where this site runs, they support both options.

It's also really easy to get a LetsEncrypt certificate. Just go to your Hosting Cpanel en click on Let's Encrypt.

You then get a list of your domains that already have a certificate and you get a selection box where you select the domain and request a certificate.

Wait a couple of seconds to let the process complete and you are done with this part.

Now you need to login to your Content Management System and change the base URL from HTTP to HTTPS.

I use WordPress on this site, so for me, it meant going to Setting -> General and change the URL to HTTPS and re-login.

But with the image and other links on the website still pointing to http:// resources you don't get a full save icon, its mixed content.

For WordPress there is a plugin called Really Simple SSL that fixes this, it also makes sure that the http:// links get redirected to the https:// version.

Something that is really important for Google and your visitors.

If you want to take it a step further, get the Pro version of Really Simple SSL, as that works it's magic to get HSTS.

I don't have the Pro version on this website, but I do use it on my dutch WordPress Magazine website and it has a 100% secure rating on the Dutch Internet.nl website making it into the Hall of Fame.

Doing a basic check on this site via https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/ gives me an A rating.

SSL test result

So to keep your rating and stay in the Google search results, move your site from HTTP to HTTPS.

If your hosting company does not have an option like Let's Encrypt, ask them if and when they will implement it.

If you don't get it or if you are not getting a clear answer, you might want to consider moving your website to a new hosting provider like SiteGround.com, I did and I am very happy that I did!

The influance of your Joomla Hosting on Search Engine Optimization

Filed Under: Joomla Seo, Search Engines

What does your hosting company have to do with your Search Engine Optimization efforts?

Well, a lot more than you might think!
Let's take some points to consider selecting your Hosting or if You need to move to another.

Your hosting company provides you with a platform to run your Joomla (or any other website) on.
Mostly they will offer your hosting on Linux, with Apache web server and a MySql database.
This is great stuff, most of the time running stable and without problems.

Now here are the things to look for:

1 Your site needs a really long time to load, even if you have almost no images.
2 Your site has frequent outages, and the helpdesk is not really helpful in getting the solution.
3 You cannot make and use your own .htaccess file (a must for Rewriting the URL to better page names)
4 The neighborhood (other sites hosted on the server) is not so good, in the worst case even a spammer.

Note 1. The spiders and bots only have a short time to index your site, before they move on…. they won't wait for a slow loading page…
Note 2. Problems with a website, are registered, not only by normal users but also by spiders.
To many unreachable URL's can get you thrown out because they think there is no site anymore.
Note 3. Your .htaccess helps you in getting the right URL's from your Joomla SEF component or even the standard SEF functionality.
Note 4. Servers that have Bad neighborhood websites, normally share an IP range, so if this range is identified as, let's say, “not so nice websites” there is a BIG change your site is influenced by them, thus dropping your ranking.

What you really, really want for your hosting
– fast servers, with a good infrastructure and good track record.
– Not too many websites on one server
– A good control panel that lets you manage every technical aspect of your website
– “Clean” servers, check if your hosting provider has a policy of banning “bad” sites.

And … a good “value for money” for You to give you a good feeling that you are in the right spot with your hosting.
So You see, speed and 24/7 access to the website is a real important aspect of Search Engine Optimization.

A Good Joomla Hosting is Siteground.com on which you get all of the above and more, go check it yourself.