Tag Archives: web hosting tips

Dedicated IP and Shared Hosting: What’s the Difference?

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Hosting

The post Dedicated IP and Shared Hosting: What’s the Difference? appeared first on HostGator Blog . If you’re in the market for a new host there are a lot of things you’ll need to consider. Not only are there multiple types of web hosting available, but there are probably hundreds of different web hosting providers to choose from. Beyond choosing between the hosting provider and style of hosting, you’ll also need to sort through a lot of different technical terms and hosting requirements. After all, it can be difficult to find the right kind of hosting when you don’t know what you’re looking for. Below we look at two very common forms of hosting, shared hosting and dedicated IP hosting . Learn about what dedicated IP and shared hosting actually are, how they differ, as well as the pros and cons of each, so you can decide what style of hosting is best for your business. What is an IP Address? An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a way to reference and locate a computer that’s connected to a network. In this case, your IP address will reference the location of a server that’s connected to the internet. Every domain will be assigned an IP address. IP addresses are then mapped via the Domain Name System (DNS). This system works like an address book. When you type in a domain name into your web browser, your ISP will perform a DNS query. This query will then look up the name servers associated with your domain and finally send you to the requested website. That’s a lot of steps, but all of these tasks happen behind the scenes, and all take less than a couple of seconds. Without the DNS system, we’d be stuck typing in IP addresses into our browsers, instead of easy to remember domain names .   What’s a Dedicated IP Address? A dedicated IP address is an IP address that’s assigned to a single domain name. Think of this as your personal cell phone, as opposed to a home phone line that can be answered by anyone in your home. Here are a few of the most common benefits of a dedicated IP address :   On-Demand Website Access Sometimes you’ll want to start building your website or access it before the domain has effectively propagated. With a dedicated IP address you have direct server access, so you can view your website without having to change the DNS settings.   Improve Email Deliverability Most businesses have business email addresses that are associated with their domain names. In this case, you might also be sending emails over through an app on the server. If another site using the same IP address is using shady or spammy tactics, then this could have a negative impact on your email deliverability rates. With a dedicated IP address, your site is isolated from these negative consequences.   It’s a Requirement for Some Applications Some applications and server-side software might actually require that you have a dedicated IP address in order to function properly. This requirement isn’t as commonplace as it once was, but if you’re running a customer server, or require a unique server configuration, then a dedicated IP address might be a necessity.   Some Hosts Require Them for SSL Before, you needed a dedicated IP for SSL . Today, it’s no longer an across the board requirement, but some hosting providers might require it. It’s worth checking with your current hosting provider, to see if a dedicated IP is required for SSL.   What is Dedicated IP Hosting? Dedicated IP hosting has a variety of different meaning depending on your hosting provider. For example, it could mean that you have a dedicated IP address, but you’re still using shared hosting. Or, it can mean that you have a dedicated server, along with a dedicated IP address. Web hosting with a dedicated IP refers to your IP setup, rather than the type of hosting itself. Most hosts will be able to offer you a dedicated IP address no matter the kind of hosting environment you’re currently using. However, dedicated IP hosting typically refers to dedicated hosting. To define dedicated hosting , it is a style of hosting that provides you with your own physical server. Compare this to shared hosting where you’re sharing a single physical server with hundreds, or even thousands, of other websites.   Dedicated IP Hosting Pros and Cons The benefits of dedicated IP hosting depend on what you mean by dedicated IP hosting. If you’re strictly referring to a dedicated IP address (no matter the type of hosting you’re using), then refer to the dedicated IP address benefits above. However, if you’re referring to a dedicated IP server , then these are the benefits your site will receive:   Rock Solid Performance With a dedicated server, you have access to all of the resources of your server. This means that you’ll never run into bandwidth, disc space, or memory issues. Your site can receive a nearly unlimited volume of traffic without negatively affecting your site’s performance.   High Level of Security With a dedicated server, you not only receive a dedicated IP address, but you’ll have much higher levels of server security. With a dedicated server, you can create custom security protocols that are engineered to your unique websites. Plus, since you’re not sharing the server with any other users, a spammy or insecure website won’t affect your server.   High Level of Uptime Dedicated servers have very high uptime. You won’t experience any issues of your site being taken offline due to resource consumption.   Drawbacks of Dedicated Hosting Still, dedicated hosting isn’t perfect. Here are some of the biggest drawbacks of choosing this form of hosting:   It Can Be Expensive With a dedicated server, you’re paying for the entire physical server yourself. So, instead of splitting the costs between multiple users you’re responsible for the entire server cost yourself. However, with the higher dedicated hosting costs you’re getting direct access to a high-performance server. If you’re thinking about upgrading to a dedicated server plan, then you’re probably the type of website owner who can afford it. There are also cheap dedicated server hosting plans available, but with these it is highly recommended to do your research and know what you’re getting before purchasing.   High Level of Technical Expertise With a dedicated server, there’s a higher level of technical experience required. For example, you or your team will be responsible for server configuration and maintenance. If you don’t have the necessary technical skills, then you may need to bring on additional team members or consider using a managed hosting provider.   What’s a Shared IP Address? A shared IP address is an IP address that’s shared between multiple domains. It’s probably one of the most common IP address setups today. Hosting providers today are able to utilize a single IP address for multiple domain names, while still delivering users to the web page they specify. But, just because you’re using a shared IP address doesn’t mean that it’s shared hosting. With shared hosting, you’ll be sharing the server resources amongst multiple users on the same server. They often go together, but it’s not always the case.   What is Shared Hosting? In this section, we will discuss what is shared hosting so you can have a better idea of which hosting plan is best for you. Shared hosting is by and far the most common type of hosting. It’s well suited for beginners and can usually benefit sites up until they’re getting tens of thousands of visitors per month. Like we mentioned above, with shared hosting you’re sharing the server hardware and resources with dozens, hundreds, or maybe even thousands of other sites. This is done through server partitioning. Every user will have an allotted amount of storage, bandwidth, and more that they can use however they wish (within the host’s terms of service of course). Shared hosting is commonly equipped with an easy to use control panel, along with additional tools to help you get your site online as fast as possible, plus it’s usually the cheapest form of hosting you’ll be able to find!   Shared Hosting Pros Shared hosting is the most commonly used form of hosting in the world. It’s oriented towards beginners and can greatly aid in the site building process. Most site owners will start their online journey with a shared host, eventually “graduating” to other types of hosting as their sites expand.   It’s Cheap One of the main reasons people turn to shared hosting is because it’s incredibly cheap. Since you’re sharing server resources with other site owners you’ll be splitting these costs as well. When you’re just starting out online and don’t have much of a budget, the cheap monthly rate can be very beneficial.   Easy to Setup Shared hosting is incredibly easy to use. A shared hosting environment typically comes with pre-installed software scripts, or at least the ability to quickly install whatever kind of technology your site requires to function. For example, with a shared server environment you’ll have access to tools like WordPress, Joomla, website builders, and more. Any technical task can be accomplished through an app within cPanel.   Shared Hosting Cons Shared hosting can be very beneficial for the right kind of website owner. However, it’s not without its drawbacks. Although shared hosting can be the perfect fit when just starting out, some sites will quickly outgrow the service and need to upgrade to a higher package.   Limited Server Resources Shared hosting is limited with its disk space and bandwidth. Most websites won’t run into these limitations unless they’re growing quickly or are receiving a very high volume of traffic. However, in some cases, another site on the same server who’s experiencing a heavy load of traffic can actually negatively affect your website’s performance too.   Can’t Support Custom Setups With shared hosting, you’re given a wide range of software to choose from, but there isn’t much you can do to the actual server environment or underlying technology. You’re stuck with the customization options that are offered by the server environment, usually things like choosing your CMS or website builder, configuring email addresses, and more. If you need higher levels of customization that allows you to optimize your server environment for performance, or for your unique website needs, then you’ll need to upgrade to another form of hosting.   Dedicated IP Hosting vs Shared Hosting The main difference between dedicated IP and shared hosting is the IP address. The most common type of IP address is a shared IP address. In this scenario, multiple websites that are sharing the same server environment will also share the same IP address. With a dedicated IP address, your website is the only site that’s using the IP address—it’s yours and yours alone. When you choose dedicated server hosting it’ll typically be equipped with a dedicated IP address. It can be server specific (and you’ll receive a dedicated IP address for the server no matter how many sites you’re hosting). Or, you can have multiple dedicated IP addresses on a dedicated server environment (for each site that you’re hosting on the server). With shared hosting, you’re sharing the server resources, along with an IP address. It is possible to have a dedicated IP address on a shared server, but you’ll need to make this request through your host. Not every host has the underlying structure to support a dedicated IP address on a shared hosting environment.   Closing Thoughts Dedicated IP hosting and shared hosting both address very different needs in the hosting market. Shared hosting is a perfect choice for those just getting started online. It’s easy to use, simple to set up, and can support your site until you’re receiving pretty decent levels of traffic. However, you may run into performance issues, depending on the other site’s you’re sharing the server environment with. While if you’re using dedicated IP hosting, then you’re most likely on a dedicated server environment. Dedicated servers are oriented toward high-level sites, and and you can even use dedicated servers for games as well. A dedicated server offers you greater levels of server customization, security, control, and support for very high levels of traffic without any issues in site performance. Hopefully, you have a better idea of the differences between dedicated IP and shared hosting, so you can better choose the right hosting package when building a website . Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dedicated IP and Shared Hosting: What’s the Difference?

What is a Content Management System?

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Hosting

The post What is a Content Management System? appeared first on HostGator Blog . To be a successful business owner, one of the important skills you need is the ability to identify the right tools that enable you to run your business effectively. For many businesses, that will include using a content management system (CMS).   What is a Content Management System? A web content management system is software expressly designed to help you create, edit, organize, and publish your content online. It provides an intuitive interface for editing your web pages that saves you from having to deal with coding directly, or call your developer each time you need to make an update. And it makes it easy to provide the right level of access to every person in your company that contributes or makes changes to the website. Within a CMS, you can store all the content you’ve already created and any media you want to include on your website. You can easily keep track of which content is published, which is scheduled, and which is in draft form. And many CMSs allow you to track changes to pieces of content, so you can see how versions differ and revert to an earlier one if needed. Does My Business Need a Content Management System? For small businesses, “need” might be too strong a word here, but most businesses will benefit from having a CMS. A CMS will particularly be useful for any business where: Anyone in charge of making updates to the website lacks coding skills . Whether you have a one-person business or over 100 employees, if anyone in a position to add content to the website or make tweaks to the pages already there isn’t skilled at coding, they’ll struggle to do their job without a CMS. And since small coding errors can sometimes bring down a whole site, you don’t want to take that risk. Multiple people have access to the site, each of them for different tasks. A CMS lets you set up accounts for the different people in your company that need some level of access to the website, but you can define what level of access they have with WordPress user roles to improve security . If you hire a blogger to write and publish blog posts, you don’t have to give them the ability to make changes to your home page. A CMS gives you control over who can change what, and helps you protect your website from accidental errors and malicious changes alike. You already have or plan to create a lot of content. If your business is doing a content marketing strategy , a CMS provides a centralized location for you to store and manage all the different pieces of content you have. Everyone involved in content creation, editing, and scheduling can easily access everything they need and keep track of its status. A good web content management system will make managing your website a lot easier—both for you and anyone else you employ to help out. And it will help you keep your content and web pages organized and looking the way you want them to.   How Much Do Content Management Systems Cost? As a business owner, it sometimes feels like you can’t go a whole day without hearing about some new product or service you need. You only have so much money to spend, so even if the argument is persuasive, learning that there’s one more product you should invest in is often dispiriting. So here’s the good news: almost all of the most popular content management systems are free. They have add-ons and plug-ins that cost more, if you want additional features. And in some cases, hiring a web developer or someone to help you get your CMS set up or get more out of it is worth it. But a good CMS in and of itself doesn’t have to cost you anything. Even with a CMS though, you will still need to invest in web hosting and register a domain name , if you haven’t already. And a CMS isn’t usually the best tool for doing web design—you’ll want a professional web designer or a good website builder for that part. But once you have those basics covered, a CMS enables you to maintain and update your website over time without any added cost.   What to Look for in a Content Management System Every business is different, so what your business will value most in a CMS depends on your particular goals and needs. Even so, there are a few main features most businesses will want to consider when deciding which CMS to go with. Look for a CMS that: Is within your budget. This may seem strange to mention when we just told you that most content management systems are free, but there are potential costs involved you need to consider. To start, a couple of CMS options that provide specialized features or functionality do have a price, so there’s a small chance your best option won’t be free. Secondly, even with free CMS tools, you’ll likely want to use some plugins or extensions to get the full functionality you need. So before you make a decision, research the cost of the additional tools you expect to invest in, so you get a more accurate picture of the full cost of your choice.   Is intuitive. Some content management systems are more user friendly for beginners than others. Sometimes that means a tradeoff: a CMS that’s harder to learn and work with could provide more options for customization, if you know what you’re doing. If you value ease of use over being able to realize a very specific vision, then you want to look for a CMS that you’ll be able to start using without having to spend a lot of time learning the ropes. Lets you define permissions and roles. If more than one person will be involved with updating the website, you want the power to control who has access and what kind of access they have. A CMS that makes it easy to set up other users and define their level of permissions reduces the risk of letting people into the backend of your website by making sure each one can only make the kinds of changes you’ve assigned. Makes it easy to apply proper formatting. Strong copywriting can improve your website tremendously. Generally speaking, good writing for the web includes using headings and formatting to organize your content for readability. Applying that formatting with HTML can be confusing, so a good CMS should provide easy options for doing so within its interface. Adding headings, italics, bolding, and list options should be a simple as clicking on a button. Helps you organize your content and media. The more web content you create, the more important it will be to have a good method for keeping it all organized. Consider if your CMS provides options for categorizing the content, blog posts,and media you upload, and easily finding the specific piece you need at the moment you need it. Provides support. Technology is complicated and you’ll inevitably hit up against questions or challenges when using your CMS. Choose an option that has plenty of online resources for helping you find the answers you need and/or customer support staff you can reach out to. Because the most popular content management systems have huge communities of users, you can usually find good support resources in spite of not paying for the software. Is compatible with your other software. If you already have software you use for things like e-commerce, website analytics, or customer relationship management (CRM), then you want to make sure your CMS will play nice with the tools you have. Provides on-site optimization features. You want people to find your website, so SEO should be a top priority. A CMS can simplify optimizing your web pages for SEO with features that allow you to customize page URLs, title tags, headings, and alt tags—all without having to touch the page’s code. Has an extensive library of plugins. The CMS will provide the basic functionality you need, but most businesses will want access to an array of different features that don’t come with the CMS itself. For that, you’ll need plugins or extensions. The most popular content management systems have huge libraries of plugins made by hundreds of developers that you can use to add functionality to your website. Offers security options. The flip side of choosing a CMS that’s popular is that it could become the target of hackers. But you can protect yourself from that risk by making sure the CMS provides basic security options such as two-factor authentication, security software and plugins, and regular updates to fix any security vulnerabilities they find. You may not need every one of these features, but consider which ones you’d like your CMS to have and how much of a priority each one is. Once you get set up with a CMS, it’s easier to stick with it than to switch to a new new one, so making the right decision to start will make your life a lot easier.   5 Most Popular Content Management Systems When starting your search for the right CMS for your business, there’s a good chance one of the most popular content management systems out there will satisfy your needs. Here are the main ones to check out.   1. WordPress Easily the most popular CMS, with well over half of the market share, WordPress is a great choice for many websites. There are endless benefits of WordPress as a content management system . Because of its popularity, there are loads of experts and developers working to provide a vast library of resources for the CMS. That includes over 50,000 popular WordPress plugins , thousands of themes to choose from, dozens of thorough WordPress blogs , and a huge community of users who can help with any questions you have. WordPress itself is free. Many of the plugins and themes will cost you, although often the cost is reasonable. And you can even find WordPress web hosting plans specifically designed to work well with this content management system. For lots of small businesses, WordPress will provide just what you need.   2. Joomla Joomla is one of the other most popular content management systems out there. While its community isn’t nearly as large as that of WordPress, it still boasts over 2 million sites and 1,400 volunteers who help keep the CMS running smoothly and improving over time. Joomla has a reputation for being a little harder to learn than WordPress, but it’s still pretty easy for beginners and advanced users alike. And they provide a comprehensive library of resources to help users learn how to get started with Joomla and get the most out of it. Like WordPress, Joomla is free, but you can invest in extensions that add functionality at a cost.   3. Drupal Drupal is the third most popular CMS option, with over 1 million websites using it. They have a reputation for being better suited for developers with some skill than for beginners, and for providing more options for customizing your site and powering more complex solutions. Like the others, Drupal itself is free, and there are many integrated modules you can use to customize your website that are also free. But since taking advantage of the CMS’s flexibility to do more with your website requires skill, you may need to spend money on a developer to get your site where you want it to be.   4. Magento Magento is a CMS that’s specifically designed for ecommerce websites. Magento has both a free open source version and paid versions that pack greater functionality. The free version includes ecommerce features like mobile shopping and integrated checkout, payment, and shipping functionality. The paid version includes additional analytics and marketing features. For ecommerce businesses, it’s worth looking into.   5. Blogger Blogger is a simple and straightforward CMS for anyone primarily interested in learning how to start a blog . It’s free and easy to use, but somewhat limited in its functionality in comparison to the other content management systems on this list. It’s not an open source CMS, which means there’s less flexibility and fewer plugins or other add-ons you can use to customize your website or add functionality. For simple websites, it can be a good enough choice. For many businesses, it won’t offer enough features for your needs.   Choosing a Content Management System for Your Website The easier it is to update your website, the more power you have to improve how well it works over time. The right CMS will put control of your website into your hands, without having to learn complicated programming languages. Determine which of these solutions makes the most sense for your business and get started. HostGator supports all of the most popular content management systems with our web hosting plans, including WordPress, Magento, Drupal, and Joomla. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What is a Content Management System?

Today’s 5 Best Free WordPress Themes for Freelancer Websites

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Hosting

The post Today’s 5 Best Free WordPress Themes for Freelancer Websites appeared first on HostGator Blog . Every freelancer needs a website for one major reason: Clients can’t find you if you don’t show up in their search results. Other reasons freelancers need websites are to show your work to prospective clients, to let prospects know which kinds of services you provide (and which you don’t), and to give people an easy way to get in touch with you. To make the most of your website, you’ll need a theme that loads fast, looks good and is easy to use on phones and computers, and establishes your professional brand . Here are five free WordPress themes that work well for different types of freelance businesses. 1. Bootstrap Journal Bootstrap Journal from Bootstrap Themes describes itself as feminine, but perhaps a better word is fun. The fonts are what give this image-heavy theme a slightly whimsical look, which can work for freelancers in businesses that require an outgoing personality, like wedding and event planners, independent travel agents, stylists, makeup artists, and hair stylists. This theme is best for freelancers who have a strong visual portfolio to display. On my laptop, the full-width header image fills the space above the fold. Beneath it are page navigation tabs and a 5-image grid with post titles over the images. Post excerpts with large images follow, and there’s a subscription box to encourage visitors to join your email list. On a smartphone, everything converts to one column. Bootstrap Journal is responsive, fast, SEO friendly and WooCommerce compatible. The pro version ($49) adds ad management tools, multiple design customization options, and an editable copyright text option.   2. Clean Fotografie Clean Fotografie from Catch Themes , as you might guess from the name, is a good choice for freelance photographers. It’s also useful for freelancers in other businesses whose portfolio is mainly visual, like makeup artists, fine artists, interior decorators, and landscape designers. Clean Fotografie’s responsive design puts images front and center on computers and phones, gives you hero image options for your home page or the entire site, a portfolio feature, full-screen HD image capabilities, and Instagram compatibility. The free version also includes customization options for text excerpts, menus, header media, and layouts. On a laptop screen, the header media includes a call-to-action button to get visitors moving through the site. Beneath the header, a three-column row of images for categories is followed by a header image and text block, featured images in another three-column row, and news items with large featured images. On a smartphone, the content shifts into a single column but keeps the focus on images rather than text. Clean Fotografie’s pro version ($55) is WooCommerce ready and adds more customization options,  featured slider tools, and font families.   3. Experon Experon from ThinkUp Themes looks like a good option for freelancers who work in a field that requires precision and a sense of understated style, thanks to the hexagonal category icons below the slider banner. Because of the design, the above-the-slider-banner tabs for pages and social media, and the three-category row just beneath the banner, Experon is a good option for a freelance agency or solo freelancer that offers multiple services they want to describe in depth on the site. Experon’s free version loads quickly, is SEO friendly, and is optimized for HD screens. It’s compatible with WooCommerce for selling on the site and Elementor for drag-and-drop page design. The free version also gives users access to regular security and feature updates. The pro version of Experon ($35) adds full-width and boxed layout options, more than 100 shortcodes to add features to the site fast, hundreds of Google Fonts, and unlimited color and sidebar options.   4. Life Coach Life Coach from Blossom Themes is a great choice for freelancers who are serious about building their email list through content marketing. Designed for—you guessed it—life coaches, this theme also works for writers, teachers, and speakers. On both laptops and smartphones, there’s a sign-up section where visitors can enter their email in exchange for a free info product (a checklist, e Book , or some other marketing content). Next comes page navigation tabs and a hero image with another subscription section. Next, there’s a social proof section for the logos of media outlets, websites, and events where your work has been featured. About, services, learn more, testimonials, and articles are next, followed by contact information and a contact form. Life Coach’s free version is fast, SEO friendly, Schema.org optimized, responsive, and WooCommerce compatible. Coach Pro ($49) adds more layout and design options as well as sections for case studies, pricing, podcasts, and events.   5. Ryan Grid Ryan Grid from ThinkUp Themes has a black-and-white palette and a focus on text blocks that’s good for writers , editors, tutors, transcription, and other freelancers whose work is based on text. On a laptop, Ryan Grid is similar to Experon, with two unobtrusive menu headers for social media icons and pages, followed by a slider header, then three category text blocks. On a smartphone, that first text block is where you’ll want to put your most important information, because it’s the most prominent element on the smartphone-screen homepage display. If you do have images to include, Ryan Grid is HD Retina-ready. The free version has an options panel for easy customization of the design and it’s Elementor-compatible for drag-and-drop page building. It’s also WooCommerce compatible, which is helpful if you have information products you want to sell on your site. Ryan Grid’s pro version ($35) adds unlimited color and sidebar options, Google Fonts, and more than 100 shortcodes for easy customization.   Choosing a WordPress Theme for Your Freelance Website Once you’ve decided on a couple of themes you like, download them and try them out with your own content to get a sense of which one will work best for you. After you make your choice, ask for feedback from your peers, clients, and prospects about how easy it is for them to find what they need on your site. If you need to make changes to your theme, or pick another theme, you’ve got lots of good free options. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Today’s 5 Best Free WordPress Themes for Freelancer Websites

7 Things You Can Do with Gator Website Builder

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Hosting

The post 7 Things You Can Do with Gator Website Builder appeared first on HostGator Blog . Choosing the right website builder can be a little overwhelming. You’ve got a lot of options and reviewing the different features in each can lead to as much confusion as it does answers, especially if you’re new to building websites and don’t really know what you’re looking for. To help you out, we’ll explain seven useful things you can do with our new Gator Website Builder in clear terms anyone can understand—no confusing jargon for beginners or vague references to features you don’t really understand, just simple explanations of actions you can take once you invest in Gator. 1. Choose from hundreds of mobile-friendly designs. Part of what makes website builders easy to use is that you can start from a template—that’s a design that gets the basic structure and style of your website in place. Then all you have to do is change what’s there to bring it in line with what you want. Gator provides over 200 templates that have been designed by professionals that each: Are responsive , which means that the template can adapt to whatever browser or device size your visitors come from. You don’t have to do anything extra to make sure your website is mobile friendly, since you’ll be starting with a responsive design. Adhere to web design best practices. You don’t have to learn all the tips for what people respond to best in a website, because our designers have already done that and made sure your website design incorporates what works. Are useful for common website purposes . Whether you’re starting a small jewelry eCommerce business, building a website for your auto shop, or launching a photography blog , you can find a template designed with your purpose in mind. Having a good template to start with goes a long way to making the rest of the process of building your website easier. Gator has you covered on that front.   2. Personalize your website’s style and color scheme. With Gator’s intuitive editing software, you can easily change out the colors of your template to bring them in line with the color scheme you have in mind. Changing colors is as simple as clicking on the element you want to change, clicking on the color icon in the menu, and choosing your color. You can change the general layout of the page by clicking on “Change Design” and selecting from the options provided. You can change the background image, add in visual effects, or even bring an animation component in with the Style section. And you can move different parts of the page by clicking on the element you want to move, dragging it to the place you want it to be, and dropping it there. Even though you start from someone else’s design, you can quickly and easily make the website’s look and style your own with these intuitive features.   3. Load unique images, media, and copy. The other easy way to make the website your own is to add your original images and media to the site. Loading your own logo, photographs, or images you designed yourself is easy enough. You can use them to replace images already in the template, or drag them to the spot you want them to be in. You’ll also need to update the placeholder text in the template with words that accurately reflect what your website is all about and why your visitors should care. Simply highlight the text that’s there and type in new words. Or, to add text where there the template doesn’t have any yet, choose text in the Elements section of the menu and select either heading (for larger text that will introduce a section of the page) or paragraph (for smaller, longer blocks of text that provide more detail).   4. Easily find free stock photos. Images are a crucial component of any website. Not only do they make your web pages look better, but they play a big role in how people interact with them—to the degree that 80% are more likely to read your content if you include an image and they’re 64% more likely to remember what they read. But finding good, affordable images to use for your website can be a difficult and time consuming process. And it’s even more challenging if you’re hoping to stick with images you can use for free—unless you use Gator. Gator comes with dozens of stock images included. Each time you want to add an image to a page, you’ll have the option to click on a tab that says Stock Images, and browse photographs that are divided into useful categories. Easy access to a variety of high-quality images can make your life much easier when designing a new website.   5. Create and manage a blog. Blogs are useful for all sorts of websites. If you’re building a personal site, it’s a good way to share your thoughts with the world. For business sites, blogging is a powerful marketing tool. And for anyone who wants their website to be easy for visitors to find, it’s one of the best ways to help your website show up more often in Google . For anyone using Gator, adding and maintaining a blog is simple. You can choose your blog design and add new posts in the same menu you use for the rest of designing your website. Consistently writing really great blog posts that your visitors will love will still take time and work, but the technical side of things is taken care of when you use Gator.   6. Set up a store. Not everyone building a website needs eCommerce capability, but if you want the ability to sell products or services through your website and securely accept payment, then these features are a must. In Gator, a simple upgrade enables you to list your products, include a shopping cart, and set up a secure checkout experience for your customers. If you want your website to start making you money fast, Gator provides all the functionality you need without requiring any special skills.   7. Track your visits and visitor actions. If you want your website to be successful, you should pay attention to how people interact with it. Gator puts useful website analytics right in the same dashboard you use for the rest of your web design and management, including: The number of people who have visited your site How many of them are visiting for the first time (unique visitors) How many different page visits you got (which tells you how many visitors went to more than one page while on your website) And how many visitors clicked away soon after coming to your website (your bounce rate ) That information will help you understand if your website is doing what you want it to . If you’re not getting as many visitors as you want, you can figure out the best online marketing strategy to make it easier for people to find you. And if people aren’t sticking around or taking the actions you want once they’re on the site, you know to change up how your site looks or what your pages say to see if you get better results.   Get Your Website Going with Gator Website Builder Gator provides advanced capabilities accessible with a beginner’s level of knowledge. And it’s not only affordable, with plans starting at $3.95 a month, but it also comes with web hosting included in the price. That saves you time and trouble, while helping you get your awesome new website up ASAP. Build your website with Gator now. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 7 Things You Can Do with Gator Website Builder

How to find out which theme a WordPress site is using?

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Hosting

The post How to find out which theme a WordPress site is using? appeared first on HostGator Blog . Have you ever come across a website that you simply loved in terms of design and functionality? Better yet, have you ever found a website that you were so impressed with, you felt you just had to have it for yourself ( with your own branding elements, unique style and content of course! )? If you find yourself wanting to give your WordPress website a makeover, without starting over from scratch and re-doing everything from blog posts to pages, media uploads to comments, you’re in luck. All you have to do is change your site’s WordPress theme. In fact, WordPress is popular in part because its design is so flexible and can be changed at any moment, without affecting too much of your site’s foundation. Finding a fellow WordPress website that you want to draw inspiration from is great – until you realize you have no idea what WordPress theme it’s using . That’s why today I am going to walk you through how to manually find which theme any WordPress website is using , as well as share some helpful online tools that may speed up the process for you, so you can start your site redesign right away. So, let’s get started. How to Find the Theme of Any WordPress Website There are many online tools dedicated to helping you determine what theme WordPress websites are using ( more on those later ). But the problem is, sometimes website owners change the name of their WordPress themes, preventing these tools from recognizing the theme they’re using and spilling the beans to you. That’s why knowing how to manually find the theme of a WordPress website is so helpful. And the best part is, it’s not that hard to do! Each WordPress theme has what’s called a style.css file. This file contains information about the theme in use such as the name of the theme, the theme author, the stylesheet URL, the theme version, and more. It also has the CSS styles used by the theme. This file is what you need to find if you want to learn what theme a WordPress site is using. Step 1: Find the Style.CSS File The first thing you’ll want to do is go to the WordPress website you love. For this example, I’ll use my very own website https://www.websitehostingrating.com. Next, right click anywhere on the screen of the website you’re investigating. From the options available, choose the one labeled “ Inspect .” Note – You can click on the “View Page Source” option as well, though I find that Inspect Element makes searching for the specific theme file a whole lot easier. That said, if you do choose to use the View Page Source option, you can always use Ctrl + F ( on Windows ) or Cmd + F ( on Mac ) to open a search bar near the bottom to find the style.css file. Step 2: Inspect the CSS File When you click on Inspect Element, you’ll see a bunch of crazy looking code appear at the bottom of the screen. Don’t panic, you don’t need to understand all of this. All you need to do is find a line of code that looks something like this: This is the theme’s stylesheet – the css file. The easiest way to find this line is to enter the word “theme”, “style.css” or something similar into the search bar and click enter. This should bring up the line of code you’re looking for. In the above image, the line of code we’re looking for is highlighted in blue. Now, this bit of code may be enough for you to find the information you want, which is the name of the theme being used on the website. For instance, you can see that I use the theme Academy Pro , which happens to be a StudioPress theme built on the Genesis Framework . Notice the places the name Academy Pro appears. If you didn’t know that Academy Pro was a WordPress theme offhand, a simple Google search will bring it right up for you. If you’re looking for more information about the theme, you might be able to click on the URL in the style.css file and see data such as the theme’s URL or author. When you do this, it should look something like this: Theme Name: Academy Pro Theme URI: https://my.studiopress.com/themes/academy/ Description: The theme for online course creators, membership site owners, and educational content marketers. Author: StudioPress Author URI: https://www.studiopress.com/   Unfortunately, because WordPress themes are all different, and the code that comes with each theme file differs too, you may end up seeing a screen like this: I don’t know about you, but I have the theme name and that’s enough for me! I should also mention that this method won’t work for custom made themes or where the site owner has renamed, or deleted, the name of the WordPress theme he or she is using. Using an Online Tool to Determine a WordPress Theme Now that you know how to manually find the theme of any WordPress website out there, it’s time to make things easier by using an online theme detector tool. There are plenty of online WordPress detection tools to choose from, but in my opinion these two are the most accurate: WP Theme Detector WP Sniffer (Google Chrome extension) They both work really well, however some of them will also report the plugins that are being used on a website, which can be really helpful for that added functionality you might be after in your site’s redesign. For our example, I’ll use WP Theme Detector and see what pops up when I enter the URL: https://www.websitehostingrating.com . As you can see, this online tool determined that I am using the Academy Pro WordPress theme, which is a child theme of the Framework Genesis, which is authored by StudioPress, all of which I already determined manually. And there you have it! You now know how to manually find the theme any WordPress website is using should you want to look into using the same theme for your own website. And if you’re lucky, and the code is correct, you can find this information even faster using a free online tool such as WP Theme Detector and begin your site redesign right away! Have you ever had to manually determine the theme being used on a WordPress website? I would love to hear all about it in the comments below! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

Posted in HostGator, Hosting, VodaHost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How to find out which theme a WordPress site is using?