Category: Web Hosting

WP Engine Spring Hosting Sale

We here and SDAC Inc have been using WP Engine for over two years and have enjoyed unparalleled support and satisfaction. Before referring one client to WP Engine, we tested them with our business and personal sites for over a year. After we were completely comfortable with the service/support we began referring our clients to WPEngine and our clients have also been very happy with them.

If you are unhappy with your current host or looking to start a new WordPress site and need a great host?

For a limited time only – WP Engine is running a special on their hosting: 33% Off the first 2 Months of a monthly Personal, Professional, or Business plan.

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Security Alerts: Another Great Advantage to Hosting with WP Engine

Here at our company – we love WP Engine for many reasons. Sometimes it is hard to convince clients to update WordPress and WordPress plugins. Regardless of the reason, it generally ends up the same: their site gets hacked. Fortunately for those who are hosted with WP Engine – not only do they perform automatic WordPress updates, WP Engine also sends an email notification when a plugin that your site has installed needs to be updated because of security reasons.

Example:

Thank you for being a customer of WP Engine. Part of our commitment to our customers is to ensure their site is as secure as possible. We are contacting you today because we have identified a vulnerability in the xxxx Plugin version you are running. In order to ensure your site is secure, please update the plugin immediately.

That helpful email notification helps anyone hosted with them to be more proactive vs. reactive with security issues. Remember:

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

– Benjamin Franklin

If you are looking for a secure WordPress host – consider WP Engine.

Choosing the Right WordPress Host

We deal with hosting all day/everyday in one form or another. If we are not setting up new sites, we are working to optimize environments, troubleshooting errors, or doing comparisons/recommendations for clients.

Not many people take time to research out the best fitting hosting solution. Some look for something really “cheap” and think that will be good enough while others think if you pay a ton of money – you will get a ton of services. Neither is usually true and we would like to help you make a smart well informed decision.

How to choose the right host?
Know your actual needs. While each host brings their own complexities and costs – we highly suggest taking time to compare multiple hosts, their costs, support options, how they handle updates (OS and application), as well as your own comfort level with technical issues. We have seen over the years that some of the cheapest hosts end up costing clients more in third party support/troubleshooting/optimization vs. more expensive hosting that includes all of those services as part of their support package. On the flipside – we have also seen people go overboard with server specs that their usage is a fraction of what the server is capable of doing that they are overpaying for hosting(throwing money at hardware is not always the answer). Not sure where to start? I would recommend getting a realistic handle on your traffic, server needs and then talk to others you might know who have similar needs. If that is not an option, I would recommend looking at a cheap host vs. mid-price host vs. expensive. See what all of them offer. Some cheap hosts are really cheap, but they do not offer backups, free support, and often have performance issues. Like mentioned before – your cheap hosting might end up costing you a lot more than you bargained for or your expensive host might be overboard for your real needs. Also consider what is most important to you (uptime, phone support, proactive updates) and make a list of what you absolutely require. Make sure you also factor in the time/effort needed to keep WordPress up to date. Is that something you can handle or do you want your host to handle?

What do we recommend?
Over the years we have migrated from one host to another – some stops along the way are longer than others but for the last year we have landed at WPEngine for our WordPress hosting needs and have been very happy with their uptime, service, and tremendous support. Of course – this was a decision made after we looked at many factors (most mentioned above).

If you are thinking about switching hosts or have any further questions we would be happy to help you through the process.

WordPress Import/Export Option

Not too long ago whenever I had to move clients from one server to another, I would make a backup of the files and the database and then use SSH or FTP to move the files and then import the SQL file into MySQL. Over the past few months – I have switched to using the Import/Export option(Manage > Import/Export) to move simple sites. If you are moving your site to/from WordPress.com or from another server, take a look at the Import/Export option in WordPress to easily move all your data and attachments.

The Import/Export Process

You first need to log into your current WordPress installation and export your existing site data so you can import it on your new host. To do this, go to the WordPress Admin > Manage > Export. WordPress will create an XML file that you will then use to import. This is a really quick and easy way to move from one host to another if you are not comfortable with MySQL or phpMyAdmin (or any other database tool).

Import all your data (Import posts, comments, custom fields, pages, and categories from a WordPress export file) into your new WordPress installation. You can even import all your attachments which makes this even easier to migrate from one host to another.

You will also need to move your plugins, theme files, and any other files you might have – but this is a really easy way for most to move their data from one site to another – and it works great!