Gator Crossing

It has been quite a while since our last official Newsletter.  The truth is that although we’ve been incredibly busy, and constantly growing, there hasn’t been much news to share; its just been nose to the grindstone around the offices.

Having said that, we wanted to take a moment to share with you some account security tips, news about our ever-growing social media presence, and first-up the fact that we’re now hiring!

HostGator is Hiring!

The truth is that HostGator virtually never stops hiring.  We are a constantly-growing company in an ever-expanding industry; we are always on the look out for qualified individuals to join us in our myriad of available positions.  From front-line Technical Support, to System Administrators, Billing Administrators, Account Managers, and Verifications Agents… entry-level through industry veterans, we are now hiring for all positions!  To apply, please visit http://hostgator.com/jobs or email us, jobs@hostgator.com.

HostGator also has an employee referral program that is open to anyone and everyone; we will pay you up to $2,500 to refer qualified candidates to us for employment!  Full information about the employee referral program is available at http://www.hostgator.com/employee-referral

Account Security:

Did you know that one of the most common causes for a hosting account to become hacked, or otherwise compromised, is also the most easily preventable cause as well?  If you use WordPress, Drupal, Joomla or any other PHP-script, database-driven CMS then it is vitally important that you keep these scripts up-to-date.  Failure to do so is literally an open door inviting hackers to gain access to your account.  Updating these scripts is as simple as logging into the back-end and clicking on any “update” notification that appears therein.

If you install any of these scripts via HostGator’s QuickInstall tool within cPanel, it will make this even easier for you by automatically updating your scripts!

HostGator on Social Media:

HostGator is active on virtually every social media platform in existence today, from Facebook and Twitter to Google+, Instagram,  Pinterest, and more!  See the entire list, and follow us on your preferred platforms at this link.

New Domain Pricing!

Now is an excellent time to register that new domain name you’ve had in mind! We’ve lowered the price to only $12.95 for all new .com/.net/.org/.biz/.info domain registration.  This price is good for multi-year registrations as well, however renewals will remain at the standard price.  Register your new domain now at http://register.hostgator.com!

As I type these words, there is an on-going and highly-distributed, global attack on WordPress installations across virtually every web host in existence.  This attack is well organized and again very, very distributed; we have seen over 90,000 IP addresses involved in this attack.

At this moment, we highly recommend you log into any WordPress installation you have and change the password to something that meets the security requirements specified on the WordPress website.  These requirements are fairly typical of a secure password: upper and lowercase letters, at least eight characters long, and including “special” characters (^%$#&@*).

You have now changed your WordPress password, correct?  Good.

The main force of this attack began last week, then slightly died off, before picking back up again yesterday morning.  No one knows when it will end.  The symptoms of this attack are a very slow backend on your WordPress site, or an inability to log in.  In some instances your site could even intermittently go down for short periods.

We are taking several steps to mitigate this attack throughout our server farm, but in the same breath it is true that in cases like this there is only so much that can actually be done.  The servers most likely to experience service interruptions will be VPS and Dedicated servers hosting high numbers of WordPress installations, due to the incredibly high load this attack has been seen to cause.

If you are hosted on a VPS or Dedicated server and you would like for us to take a more severe, heavy-handed approach to mitigate this attack, we can do this via means such as password-protecting (via .htaccess) all wp-login.php files on the server.  If you would like our assistance with this, please contact us via normal support channels.

Again, this is a global issue affecting all web hosts.  Any further information we could provide at this moment would be purely speculation.  Our hope is that this attack ends soon, but it is a reminder that we must all take account security very seriously.

We will update this blog post when we have further information.

**UPDATE**

If you have just a few WordPress sites, you can add the additional layer of security mentioned above, as well as block this attack, by following the instructions outlined in this article from our KnowledgeBase: http://support.hostgator.com/articles/specialized-help/technical/wordpress/wordpress-login-brute-force-attack

Sure, your website may be beautiful, but is it doing its job when it comes to converting first time visitors into lifelong readers?  If you aren’t sure whether or not your website is performing as well as it could, measure it against all of the following usability metrics:

Step #1 – Accessibility

As you might expect, a great place to start your website usability testing is to determine whether or not visitors are able to access your site in the first place!  Ask yourself the following questions to minimize any such issues:

Does your website display correctly in multiple browsers?

What looks good in Chrome might not work in IE – and what looks good on your desktop might render horribly in a mobile environment.  Check your website in multiple browsers at once using cross-browser compatibility testing tools like BrowserShots.

Are your load times reasonable?

Slow load times frustrate both users and the search engines alike.  Make sure your site speed is up-to-par (or get recommendations on how to improve load times if necessary) by using Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool.

Can the search engines index your content?

Plenty of different website elements can interfere with search engine indexing, which can prevent your site from receiving all of the natural search engine traffic it should.  Run your website through the WebConf’s Search Engine Spider Simulator.  If you don’t see your content appear as text, something in your site’s code is preventing proper indexing and must be resolved.

Step #2 – Branding Identity

Of course, website usability isn’t all about your site’s functionality.  Another key component of your website’s operation is its ability to distinguish itself from other sites in order to retain readers.  Here’s what you need to know:

Does your website pass the “5 second test”?

Using tools like FiveSecondTest, determine whether or not your company’s most important website elements are appropriately highlighted through your site’s design.  If not, make changes and run future tests until visitors hit upon your most important content right off the bat.

Do your visual aesthetics distinguish your brand?

The importance of a site’s visual qualities can’t be understated.  Use the principles of color psychology and the process of split testing to ensure that the visual aesthetics of your website don’t conflict with your brand’s identity or positioning.

Step #3 – Navigation

While it’s important to address any deficiencies in your site’s structure, it’s just as critical that users be able to find the information they’re looking for upon arriving on your website.  Check your navigation before it wrecks your site’s usability.

Is your main navigation easily identifiable?

When it comes to navigation, don’t make your visitors guess!  Ask friends, family members and other contacts whether or not they can immediately identify the main navigation elements of your site.  If they can’t, your website visitors can’t either – meaning that a redesign is in order.

Are your links styled clearly and consistently?

Beyond your main navigation bars, internal and external links help your readers to move through your site and find the content they’re looking for.  Make it clear how they should proceed by styling your links using a consistent set of colors and fonts.

Can visitors quickly identify important pages on your site?

Website visitors have notoriously short attention spans.  If they can’t find what they’re looking for on your site in just a few moments, they’ll hit the “Back” button and head to your competitors’ websites.  Minimize this by making key pages and key pieces of content immediately apparent through your site’s design.

Step #4 – Content

Once you’ve helped your visitors to move through your content, make it as easy as possible for them to digest the information they’ve found by optimizing your page text from a usability standpoint:

Is your content easily digestible?

Large blocks of text fail when it comes to usability.  Instead, break up your content through the use of headings, sub-headings, bullet point lists, numbered lists and bolded text.

Are your critical pieces of information placed above the fold?

Don’t hide important information below the fold (that is, below the point at which a user must scroll his browser window to read more).  Doing so frustrates users, leading to unnecessarily high bounce rates and low on-site engagement.

Does your page content utilize on-site SEO best practices?

Although SEO often gets a bad rap as being “scammy,” it can be used appropriately to benefit both users and the search engines.  Make use of meta tags, keyword placements and internal links in accordance with current on-site SEO best practices for best results.

Though the thought of measuring all of these different website elements might seem overwhelming, don’t let this prevent you from taking action to improve your site’s usability.  Addressing individual elements as your schedule permits will allow you to create a culture of continuous improvement that results in better website performance over time.

Do your website visitors land on your pages and click away without ever engaging with your brand?  Stop losing money to unresponsive visitors – encourage user activity on your site by implementing the following strategies:

Idea #1 – Encourage visitors to subscribe to your mailing list

Adding a mailing list to your website allows you to reach out to customers and offer incentives to get them to return to your site in the future.  Use a reputable email list management service like MailChimp or Aweber to store your addresses and consider offering some type of incentive (like a free product or coupon code) to encourage sign-ups.

Idea #2 – Add product review features to listing pages

Customers love to share their feedback, so make it easy for them to do so by adding product review features to your website’s pages.  Review modules can be custom-coded to your site or they can be easily installed using scripted programs like Citricle or Re-Vu.

Idea #3 – Install social sharing tools on your blog

Make it simple for website visitors to engage further with your site’s content by embedding social sharing tools like AddThis or ShareThis into your site’s blog posts and pages.  Prompting users to share their favorite articles on social networks also has a positive impact on your site’s brand recognition and SEO.

Idea #4 – Request comments on blog posts

Want your site’s visitors to leave comments on your blog posts?  Simply ask them to do so!  Ending your blog posts with a question and a prompt for readers to leave their thoughts in the comments section can be a great way to drive post-based activity on your site.

Idea #5 – Set up a user forum

Though user forums require additional time and resources to manage (unless you want your site’s community to turn into a spam network!), these investments may be worth it when it comes to promoting on-site user activity.  Several free tools (like phpBB and Motigo) make the process of forum implementation easy and can add tremendous value for your website’s visitors.

Idea #6 – Add “gamification” features to your site

“Gamification” features – like badges, user contests and user profile rating systems – turn on-site activity into an engaging game.  Tools like Badgeville and BigDoor make adding these elements simple, though larger companies may want to consult developers in order to create their own custom game-based activity reward systems.

Idea #7 – Solicit user feedback on future product launches

As mentioned in Idea #2, consumers love to provide input on their preferences and buying habits – so don’t let this valuable source of market research data go to waste!

If you’re thinking about rolling out a new product or service offering, solicit feedback from potential customers on your website.  Doing so will not only help ensure the success of your eventual launches; it’ll go a long way towards driving on-site user activity by giving visitors the impression that their interests are taken seriously.  Just be careful about blowing this goodwill by gathering public feedback and then disregarding it entirely if the results aren’t what you expected!

Idea #8 – Use rewards to encourage repeat visits

There’s a reason popular brands offer “VIP” clubs that grant repeat buyers access to special rewards and discounts.  It’s because they work!

To build loyalty and drive both on-site activity and sales amongst your existing customers, consider implementing some type of visit that rewards visitors based on their purchase or engagement history.  These systems can be as simple as creating a manual list of top buyers who receive special promotions or as complex as gamification-integrated programs that automatically profile and reward top users.

Idea #9 – Recommend “related reading” on blog posts

Once readers have landed on your company’s blog posts, don’t lose them to the “Back” button.  Instead, encourage them to stick around by adding extensions and plugins that automatically display related posts.  Sharing recommended reading articles is a great way to keep visitors on your site and engaged with your content.

Idea #10 – Add a “Q&A” page to your website

Don’t just set up a static FAQ page – create a “Q&A” section that’s expanded in response to user questions.  Giving visitors a place to ask questions and continually updating the page with your responses makes for an engaging feature that’s sure to lead to a boost in on-site activity rates.

Idea #11 – Utilize varying content formats

Last – but not least – freshen up your content by formatting it in different ways, including text, image and video-based posts.  Different readers respond to different types of content in different ways, so by including a number of separate formats, you’ll encourage user activity on your site by appealing to all of these different preferences.

Do you have any other tips on strategies you’ve used to boost user activity on your website?  Share your recommendations in the comments section below!

You’ve seen in prior posts how unattended desks at the HostGator offices can become innocent victims to roaming gangs of hooligans armed with pads of post-it notes and bent upon the defacement of perfectly clean work areas.  Well, it’s happened once again.  And I’m taking it personally, mostly because it was my desk this time.

It all began when I was summoned out of town for a week, on official HostGator business.  I received cryptic text messages throughout the week about a “surprise” that I would receive upon my return.  Multiple people from multiple departments, acting so innocent and saying how jealous they were about my surprise, and how great of a surprise it was.  Little did I know.

No reason to beat around the bush, we might as well just tear the band-aid off in one swift motion.  So, here it is; this is what I found upon my return to the office, in all it’s glory:

It hurts even just to look at, I know.  Since we’re already here, though, we might as well take this all in piece by piece.  Hopefully we can find clues as to the identity of the culprit, or culprits.  We must endeavor to put a stop to this once and for all!  Let’s have a look from a different angle, maybe that will help us make some sense out of this tragic circumstance:

We’ve come to expect the excessive use of post-it notes, and balloons have even been known to appear from time to time.  But tinsel?  Tinsel!  This is just getting out of hand.  Tinsel was never intended to be used in this manner.  Tinsel is supposed to be for celebrations!  This is no celebration, not at all!  And gift wrap!  This is a travesty.  Let’s look closer as this inappropriate use of tinsel and gift wrap:

The above image is what used to be my mouse.  It was placed on a bed of post-its, under a layer of tinsel and then gift-wrapped (well, probably not in that order, likely it was gift-wrapped first, but I digress…).  There’s simply no excuse for this sort of behavior, it’s un-called for!  Speaking of inappropriate gift wrapping, here’s a couple pictures of my monitors:

To be fair, only one of them was gift-wrapped, the second monitor was pseudo gift-wrapped, but with file folders instead of wrapping paper.  I assume either the culprits ran out of wrapping paper, or otherwise were attempting to send me a specific message of some sort.  I’m working very closely with Gator CSI in order to determine exact nature of the cause of this misappropriation of file folders, but clearly this was the work of an experienced hooligan.

Moving right along across the desk, we come to the computer tower and telephone; both of which have been treated in a way unbecoming of a computer tower or a telephone.  The decorative “Sean” artwork was pre-existing, but everything else shown in this picture likely makes your blood boil!  On the right is the telephone, and it’s worth noting that the base and the receiver were both gift wrapped separately.  Oh, the humanity!

Truth be told, to this day, the receiver remains still gift wrapped, and will remain so until these culprits are brought to justice!  If you’re like me, this is almost too painful to continue, but let’s finish what we started and take a look under the desk:

You can’t really make out what the balloons say in the image above, but I’ll tell you what they say.  They say “congratulations.”  Congratulations.  Clearly this message was hand-picked in order to rub salt in the already very, very painful wound.  I have no choice but to keep an eye out around the office, after something like this you really just never know who you can trust.  It’s heart-breaking, almost.

And then there was the chair.  How can you mess with a man’s chair?  To my knowledge, this is the first time a chair has ever been involved in a crime of this nature.  “Have a Seat,” it says.  Have a seat, indeed!

To show just how far-reaching the impact of these types of activities can be, I will now share with you a picture of what my desk looks like today.  We are trying to rebuild, but we just don’t have the resources necessary to make a full recovery yet.  It is a sad, sad work space these days:

As mentioned, the telephone receiver remains gift wrapped and there is still lingering tinsel.  Not shown: a solitary balloon still under the desk.  I don’t know if we’ll ever get rid of all the post-it notes, but at least the mouse has made a full recovery.

If you have any information as to the identities or whereabouts of those who committed this heinous crime, please notify your local authorities.

Too many webmasters approach website creation and management from a single perspective.  If something looks good, they assume that it’s as attractive and as profitable as it’s ever going to be.

But savvy marketers know that this isn’t the case.  Truly effective website performance can only come from the measurement of set metrics and experimentation to determine which conditions and variables lead to the strongest website results.  By continually measuring and testing using the conversion rate optimization (CRO) process described below, you can boost on-site engagement and overall site profits significantly with just a few tweaks.

Step #1 – Explore your site’s current performance

Before you can begin any CRO campaign, you need to understand how your site is currently performing.

Suppose you want to increase the number of sales that occur from a given sales page on your website.  You aren’t trying to boost traffic necessarily – just to increase the number of people who are already on your site who make the leap from reader to buyer.

While you can run a simple calculation – dividing the number of sales you make over a set period by the number of visitors your page receives in the same time – you’ll find the process much easier to manage with the use of Google Analytics or a similar web data measurement system.  Use Google Analytics to create a “Goal” that tracks your site’s current performance before moving on to the next step.

Step #2 – Identify CRO test variables

The process of conversion rate optimization involves serving up different page variations in order to measure objectively which version will be more successful.  There are two protocols for doing so:

• A/B split testing, in which a single on-site variable has been changed, and

• Multivariate testing, in which several variables are compared at once.

As an example, an A/B split test might involve changing the wording of your sales page headline in order to test its efficacy.  In a multivariate test, different combinations of headline text, color, size and position could all be tested at once.  If you’re new to the process of split testing, stick with the easier-to-manage A/B protocol and use it to test any of the following site elements (among others):

• Site headline wording and/or appearance

• Product image placement and design

• Calls to action

• Product or sales offers

• Size, placement and design of “Add to Cart” buttons

While you can test smaller site features (for example, your site’s body text font), begin by testing the variables that are likely to have the biggest possible effect on your overall conversion rate.

Step #3 – Develop any necessary experimental test pages

Once you’ve decided on a test variable, create any necessary experimental pages before setting up and running your CRO split test.

Following with our example above, if you were to create an A/B split test that measured the performance of different headline wording options, you’d need the URLs of two pages:

• Your original page URL

• The URL of a live test page featuring your experimental headline wording

Depending on the program you use to carry out your split test, you may also need the site URL that demonstrates a conversion has taken place.  In the case of product sales, this will likely be the “thank you” page that visitors reach upon completing a sale.

Step #4 – Run A/B or multivariate split tests

After gathering all of this information, you’ll need to load it into a program that will automatically serve up either your original page or your test page at random to visitors and record the number of conversions that stem from each variation.

For most webmasters, the easiest way to run split tests is with the use of Google Analytics’ “Content Experiments” tool (formerly, the Google Website Optimizer).  Not only is this tool free to use, it makes launching a new split test as easy as filling out a few quick forms and adding a small snippet of code to your website.  The tool also ties directly to the Analytics “Goals” created earlier, giving you a richer data set to work with when it comes to improving your site’s conversion rates.

Step #5 – Select a winner and launch a new test

Upon completing the steps above, you’ll be able to launch your split test and start generating data immediately.  While this information can be exciting to watch, be sure to wait until Google has determined a statistically significant winner before making changes to your site based on this variable conversion data.

Then, as soon as you’ve ended one test, make it a point to start another right away.  There are hundreds of thousands of different combinations of variables that can be tested on any given website.  Don’t miss out on the one that could make all the difference in your business’s bottom line by running one test and then giving up on the power of conversion rate optimization!

If every year can be labeled according to the reigning digital marketing paradigm, 2013 will undoubtedly be the year of “content marketing.”  Articles on this promotional strategy are popping up all over the place online – but what is content marketing and how can it be used to encourage engagement and conversions on your website?

Content marketing is simply a synonym for the idea of “inbound marketing.”  Instead of running an advertisement or actively prospecting for sales leads (two classic hallmarks of “outbound marketing”), content marketing relies on the dissemination of high-value marketing pieces and the resulting viral sharing that occurs.

Basically, the idea behind content marketing is that, by publishing great content and distributing it socially, brand awareness, website traffic and on-site conversions will all increase naturally – without the ongoing, concerted effort needed to continually promote traditional marketing initiatives.

If that all sounds good to you, here’s what you need to know about the process of running a successful content marketing campaign:

Step #1 – Develop high-value content

Unsurprisingly, the key component of any successful content marketing campaign is good content.  Cranking out a few “throwaway” blog posts because somebody told you that content marketing is a good way to promote a website isn’t going to get you very far, as this type of activity adds little value to your niche.

Instead, content pieces must meet two criteria in order to work for this type of campaign:

• They must be high-quality (as in, well-written articles, well-produced videos and polished infographics), and

• They must appeal to your unique audience members.

Having one factor without the other will diminish the effectiveness of your content marketing campaign.  If you produce good content that doesn’t resonate with your readers, you’ll never experience viral success.  Or, conversely, if you uncover great topics but then put out mediocre content, you won’t see any better results.

It can take some time to hit on this winning combination, though you can make the process easier by actively soliciting content ideas from your community – either through customer surveys or social media posts.  You may also find it necessary to invest in outsourcing your content pieces in order to ensure that they’re produced as professionally as possible.

Step #2 – Distribute marketing pieces to your community

Once your content marketing pieces are ready to go, you can’t just post them to your website and hope for the best!  Think about content marketing as you would business networking.  It doesn’t matter how qualified you are or how great the product you’re selling is – if you aren’t actively putting yourself in contact with others, you’re unlikely to build any kind of traction.

The same thing goes with content marketing.  For best results, you need to actively seed your social profiles with your best content in order to encourage the person-to-person sharing needed for true inbound marketing.  You need to put your content in front of people and encourage them to share the marketing materials you’ve invested in with others.

It should go without saying that the stronger and more engaged your community is, the more likely it is that your content marketing promotions will be successful.  If you take the time to make yourself present and position yourself as an authority on your industry’s social forums, you’ll see much better results with your campaigns than somebody who pops in, drops a link and doesn’t reappear until there’s another piece of self-promotional content to be shared.

Step #3 – Measure and refine marketing priorities

Finally, keep in mind that content marketing – like any other marketing technique – needs to provide some measurable impact on your business’s bottom line.  We can talk all day about the importance of high-value content or of having an engaged community, but if your content marketing investment doesn’t translate into real-life business improvements, you’re doing your business a major disservice!

For this reason, it’s important to keep an eye on the results you achieve through your content marketing initiatives.  To do so, you’ll need to first determine which metrics you’re attempting to improve with content marketing.  Are you hoping to see an increase in overall sales or are you more concerned with improving “soft” metrics like brand mentions or social followers?

Whatever the case may be, decide on a metric and then set up any tools needed to track changes in your chosen figures.  For many of these needs, pairing Google Analytics’ “Goal” feature with its “Advanced Traffic Segments” will allow you to tie visitors from content marketing traffic sources to changes in your preferred metrics.

Collect this data and then act on it to refine your future marketing priorities and investments.  Content marketing isn’t a perfect fit for every business, though by understanding what it takes to make a content piece successful and carefully tracking your company’s own investments in this promotional technique, you stand to gain significant traffic and brand recognition through this powerful strategy.