This is where Fully Customizable SEO (FCSO WordPress) shines.

FCSO means to take full control of your WordPress website and control each of its elements, so it is fine-tuned and perfectly optimized for search engines. In this guide, we showcase how you can use FCSO to your advantage and get more organic traffic and hopefully, better conversion rates.

What is FCSO WordPress and Why Does it Matter

FCSO WordPress stands for Fully Customizable Search Engine Optimization in the context of a WordPress website. Unlike basic SEO approaches that rely on basic WordPress plugins, FCSO means you manage all relevant SEO factors manually and establish full control over your website’s positioning in search results.

FCSO is important because search engines such as Google incorporate complex algorithms that take tons of factors under consideration, such as user search intent, mobile-first indexing, context, and the overall performance of a website. These advanced algorithms reward websites that are well-structured, function flawlessly, present content that is relevant, and fully reflect user intent. The opposite is also true – a low-quality website with bad structure, bad design, and overall dissatisfactory user experience, and low-quality content will be placed on lower SERP positions if ranked at all.

Because of how important FCSO WordPress becomes, we showcase the 5 core areas that you should take into consideration when you work on your website.

1. On-Page FCSO: Start With the Basics

Before getting technical,  start with the basics. The first thing you should optimize is your individual WordPress pages, so they are clear, relevant, easily found, and easily crawled. To incorporate FCSO WordPress in this context, you should:

Add and optimize meta titles and descriptions. Both of these are important in terms of FCSO, as they give a clear notion of what the web page is all about. Add meta titles and descriptions for each of your website pages, and don’t forget to include relevant keywords, along with a tight and precise description of the page content. Furthermore, meta titles and descriptions help website users get an idea of what your page is all about, and if you manage to come up with the right descriptions, more visitors will come to your pages.

Incorporate a hierarchical headings (H1, H2, H3) structure. In terms of FCSO WordPress, headings are important, and so is their distribution on your page. Always go from a larger to a smaller heading and always start a page with an H1 tag, followed by an H2 tag. This will help search engines get a notion of structure and order, which are often positively perceived by Google and other search engines.

Optimize URL structure. It is not only important to add links that lead to relevant content across your web pages. It is also important to incorporate a logical URL structure, so search engines get a notion of where the link leads to before spiders crawl it. This means that you should avoid structures such as this: https://www.your-domain-name.com/809423/28902/product-3/ and replace it with something that gives more information about your website’s structure and content, for example, https://www.your-domain-name.com/guitars/acoustic-guitars/brand-x/model-xyz/, as this makes your website look more professional and reliable. Also, always make sure that your links are relevant and the link itself leads to where it says it will, as this will drastically increase the trust in your website.

2. Technical FCSO: Make Your WordPress Website Fast to Load and Easy to Crawl

Technical SEO means improving your website’s mechanics so it performs well at any given time. Keep in mind that search engines reward fast-loading websites and pages that do not display error messages. Something more, you get bonus points for making your website’s structure easy to follow and your pages mobile-friendly, so more devices can open it without any issues. All this means the following:

Always try to improve your website speed. Fast website loading speed means satisfied search engines and happy visitors. For this reason, always clear your cache regularly, optimize your images, and optimize your website code, so it doesn’t include strings and snippets that are making it slow.

 Make your website mobile-friendly. Nowadays, more and more people use their phones and tablets to browse the web, and if your website is not optimized to work well on such devices, chances are that you will be punished by search engines. This is why, along with other endeavors, make sure that your website looks and performs well on any given Internet device, and not only laptops.

Incorporate a logical site structure. Search engines love tidy and well-structured websites, and so do users. So, to improve your chances of a better ranking, make a structure that is simple to understand and simple to follow. Also, use clear categorization so you ensure bots and users know exactly where to search for a given piece of content on your pages.

3. Content Remains King

Along with being well-structured, well-performing, and tidy, your website should display only relevant, to-the-point, and fresh content. This is important for every contemporary website, as users’ main reason to browse a given page remains its content. To get ahead of the curve and in the FCSO WordPress context, follow these suggestions for your website:

Target long-tail keywords. When conducting keyword research, focus on the long-tail ones, as they have a greater chance for growth compared to generic short-tail terms. In an example, it is better to create content around the keyword “How to improve your page speed on your WordPress website” instead of focusing on something more abstract, such as  “website speed”.

Focus on pleasing people and not on pleasing algorithms. Always use a natural tone and a clear voice when working on your website content, regardless of whether it is promotional ads, product and service descriptions, or a blog article. Always keep in mind that website visitors cherish authenticity and would greatly appreciate it should you deliver it to them. The opposite is also true – focusing too heavily on shaping your content so it is FCSO compatible can drive both visitors and crawling bots away.

Optimize for location when needed. If you have a local business, include terminology, keywords, and hints so that you can be found at a specific place at a specific time. Such an approach will help both users and bots get a better understanding of both your website and your business, so it becomes easier for them to interact with you.

4. Off-Page FCSO

Now that your website is technically optimized and your content is relevant in terms of FCSO, it is time to focus on building trustworthiness and authority in the eyes of search engines. This can greatly boost the relevancy of your WordPress website and help you rank in higher SERP positions. To get the most out of Off-Page FCSO WordPress optimisation, consider the following suggestions.

Build backlinks. Although it is easier said than done, focusing on receiving links from other websites can be a greatly rewarded initiative. In the eyes of search engines, the Internet is a place of interconnected websites that should always exchange information with one another, and in this context, links between sites are greatly valued by Google and other search engines. To get the most out of your backlink strategy, focus on quality, rather than quantity, and also aim at receiving links from websites that operate in your niche. Also, prioritize links that are naturally placed in the content of the website, rather than links that are spammy.

Establish collaborations and partnerships. Healthy business partnerships can greatly enhance your FCSO score. Offer to write guest posts that lead to your website, establish connections with industry leaders and influencers, and always search for ways to return the favor, so that search engines look on your website as a credible source of information.

Use social signals to your advantage. Social signals (likes, shares, and comments on social media) are not a ranking factor, but can contribute to better FCSO, because these signals inform search engines that your content is relevant, and since users interact with it, it is worth ranking it higher in search results. So, in short, expand your social media presence and consider working on social media marketing campaigns for enhanced FCSO WordPress impact.

5. Constantly Monitor Your Website Performance

Search engines constantly get updated with new algorithms, and competitors are constantly calibrating their FCSO strategies to remain relevant in the contemporary world of the Internet. Should you wish to retain your high positions as well, then constantly monitoring your website and its performance becomes a mandatory activity.

FCSO is a process that constantly requires actions to be effective. This means that you should constantly monitor your website’s performance, adapt your approaches and recalibrate them (when needed), and constantly refine your approaches towards placing higher in search results.

Always monitor website performance. For this, you should incorporate various web analytics tools, so you can check site visitors, how pages are performing, and how your keyword strategy is doing at any single moment. You should be aware of what is going on and how your approaches are aligning with your end goals. Such tools allow you to take quick reactions, notice insights, and have a general idea of what is going on with your website in terms of optimization.

Make regular website audits. Constantly check your website for error messages, slow pages, corrupt files, broken links, and similar issues. Just like FCSO, website maintenance is a process and when done properly, can grant tons of benefits.

Adapt your strategies and approaches to algorithm changes. Google updates are a common sight. Changes range from small patches to general changes that change the entire approach towards the concept of indexing and ranking websites on the web. To be relevant in today’s world,  you should constantly be informed about changes that companies undertake in order to make their search engines better. Should you fail to do so, you risk falling behind, as even though you can put tons of effort, search engines can find your results irrelevant and dissatisfactory.

Conclusion – FCSO Can Greatly Help Your WordPress Website

Today, search engines reward websites that are fast, work flawlessly, and have relevant content. With FCSO, you have the chance to remain competitive in this field and take your site to the top rankings of every search engine.

The post Mastering FCSO WordPress for Your Website: A Comprehensive Guide appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

Now that you’ve built your website with WordPress, you ought to take care of it, so that it won’t fall victim to a hacker’s attack.

There are a number of actions you might want to take, to achieve the safety of your website. The first thing is getting a secure WordPress host. Presuming that you’ve already done that, as you’ve built your website, the next important step in securing your website is to limit the number of login attempts or hide the backend of your WordPress, altogether.

After you’ve done the actions mentioned above, you’ll rightfully feel more secure about your website. Still, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of plugins and themes installed on your website.

Not only you should keep your WordPress up to date, but that also goes for the plugins and the themes as well.

Related: How to Update WordPress Plugin

How to Know Whether a Theme has a New Release

As we mentioned, you’ll have to keep an eye on the new available versions of the themes on your WordPress website. But unlike plugins, themes won’t tell you whether a new release is available right after you enter your WordPress Dashboard.

Whether a theme has a new release could be found by either going to Appearance ->Themes, where all of the themes installed on your website are, and which page we’ve used to choose and install WordPress theme in the first place or by going to the updates section of your website.

If you choose to go with the themes page, you should bear in mind on that page, naturally, you’ll only see the themes that have new releases. This means you might forget to update plugins and WordPress itself if you only go to the themes page.

How to Update WordPress Theme

To update your theme, you can either click on the updates or themes button. Depending on where you choose to click a different page will show up. If you click on the Themes options, you’ll see a familiar setting, where all of your plugins are listed.

As you can see on the image there are a total of three updates necessary. Two of them are shown on the plugins button, but the third is missing. Well, it should be on the themes or the CMS itself.

But on the image above, as we are on the themes page, we can see that the theme is also ready for an update.

To do so, you can either click on the Update Now link, on the top of the theme’s image or choose to go to the Updates page.

If you choose to go with the WordPress Updates option, you’ll see something like this on your screen:

Check the theme(s) you want to update, and click the Update Themes button. That’s it. Your Themes are now up to date.

Don’t forget to update your Plugins as well.

The post How to Update WordPress Theme appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

Updates are necessary as much for your websites to be up to date with the newest trends on the web, as it is for security reasons.  Every new release of WordPress or the plugins that you are using will have fixes for the bugs found in the previous releases. Not only that but the new versions will also seal any security gaps.

Thus, once you’ve installed a plugin on your WordPress website, it is of crucial importance for you to keep an eye on the new releases and update the plugins regularly.

Related: How to Update WordPress

You can, and should, of course, uninstall any WordPress plugins that you are not using. But that is a whole other topic. Which was already covered by AwardSpace’s WordPress Tutorials.

How to Know Whether a Plugin Has a New Release

As we mentioned, you’ll have to keep an eye on the new available versions of the plugins on your WordPress website. Of course, if you have installed more than a few plugins that will prove to be a hard task. That is why WordPress will alarm you every time a plugin has a new release.

To see whether any of your plugins have a new version, you need to enter your WordPress Dashboard and take a look in the upper left corner.

When any of your plugins are ready for an update, you’ll see something like this:

The arrow on the upper side shows that there are two elements installed on that WordPress website, that are ready to be updated.

The arrow below shows that two plugins are ready to be updated.

And that is how it will be for every WordPress website. On the top, where the button says Updates you’ll see all the elements that need an update – that is, plugins, themes, and WordPress itself. On the Plugins button, you’ll see only the number of plugins that have a new release.

How to Update WordPress Plugin

To update your plugins, you can either click on the updates or plugins button. Depending on where you choose to click a different page will show up. If you click on the Plugins options, you’ll see a familiar setting, where all of your plugins are listed.

When you are here, you can either click on the update now link under each of the plugins.

Or you can Bulk select all of the plugins, by clicking on the empty checkbox on the line above all the plugins:

Then click on the dropdown menu above, and choose update.

Click the Apply button right next to the dropdown menu.

Wait for a minute. All of your plugins should be updated.

On the other hand, if you choose to go with the WordPress Updates option, you’ll see something like this on your screen:

Check the plugins you want to update, and click the Update Plugins button. That’s it. Your Plugins are now up to date.

The post How to Update WordPress Plugin appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

You can easily leave your website’s loading speed to the chance. But giving it a little more thought, you might find out that it would be much better to take care of that. Not only you’ll preserve people from leaving your website, but it might affect your Search Engine Results

Related: WordPress SEO

What is Website Cache

We’ve got used to getting everything in an instant. Thus, no one is considered of the actual number of the calculations that the machine is obligated to make, in order to serve the demanded information.

And why should be?

If one website is not served as fast as we might want, we could easily find something as good if not better, have we chosen to return to the search engine and continue looking around.

All that complex calculation stays invisible. But what if the server has made one calculation so much that it was just able to remember the result. Something like our core knowledge of the fact that 2+2 equals 4. We are not calculating that result each time someone asks. We just know it. Because we remember it. Thus, we preserve valuable energy for other activities.

The cache is much like patterns that we, as humans, are following. None of us needs to discover that a door is a door every time we happen to see one. We just know it. And that long ago obtained knowledge stays with us for as long as it is needed.

Caching works in a similar way. The information on the website’s content and design and elements, and structure are stored on the server. Thus, when a user asks the server to see a specific page of a website, he could be seeing what the server ‘remembers’ about the page.

That is a cached version of the page.

Cache in WordPress

As with every CMS, WordPress needs more resources, than a website built on HTML. That is one of the main reasons that the WordPress Hosting Service exists. A web server optimized for the usage of a CMS is indeed needed. But whether you are using a WordPress hosting service or not, you definitely need to consider activating cache on your WordPress website.

Once your content is ‘remembered’ and stored on the servers, your website visitors won’t have to wait for the content to be calculated and processed again, and again, and again.

It was already processed. Now the server will show the remembered version. That way, server power will be preserved and your WordPress website will load faster for the users.

Related: 9 Tips to Improve WordPress Speed and Performance

Best WordPress Cache Plugin

To enable cache in WordPress, you’ll need to add a plugin to your website.

As mentioned in our WordPress Speed Optimization article, we put our trust in WP Super Cache. It is a really straightforward plugin. That even its ‘Advanced Settings’ gives an understandable explanation to not expert users. Not only that, but the plugin does, what it promises – caches and speeds up your website’s performance.

Of course, W3 Total Cache is a good option as well. You can check both of the plugins, and decide which one to use.

But in this tutorial, we’ll cover how to set up the first one – WP Super Cache.

How to Enable Caching in WordPress

First of all, we need to mention something very important. You should never use more than one caching plugin. Period. You can use one of the already mentioned plugins, or any other that you like but don’t mix them.

If you follow this WordPress Tutorial diligently and configure the chosen WordPress caching plugin correctly, your website will run faster for your users. Which, after all, is the final goal.   

To start the process, we’ll have to install a plugin, which is a pretty basic WordPress operation.

To install and setup WordPress WP Super Cache plugin:

1. 1. Log into your WordPress dashboard.
   2. Visit the Plugins page and press Add New.
   3. In the Keyword search box enter WP Super Cache.

Your desired plugin will appear first in the list. To install it, click Install Now.

Once activated, go to the WP Super Cache settings page and select the Caching On option.

Once you’ve done that, your website will be cached, and you can call it a day. But we highly encourage you to go through the advanced options of the WP Super Cache.

Click on Advanced in the top menu of the WP Super Cache Setting. From here you’ll be able to go to the “Expert” mode and tune up how your WordPress Cache preferences.

How to Tune Up WP Super Cache

By clicking on the Advanced options button, and enabling the Expert Cache Delivery Method, you’ll be able to tune up your WP Super Cache, so your content will be delivered faster, and the possibility of pages being shown with their own version will be minimized.

Here are two images of the settings recommended by AwardSpace.

The options on both images (the so-called Expert options) are straightforward. This means, that what you see is what you get. Thus, once you check or uncheck a specific option you’ll get (or deprive yourself) of exactly what you read.

When you are setting up your WordPress Cache, it is a very important part of the Expert options of that plugin to remember the fact that although all the options are listed on one page, you need to save each of these sections one by one.

Therefore, when you make changes in one section, don’t continue tunning up the following sections. Save the one you’ve edited, the page will refresh, and then you can continue tunning up the caching options of your WordPress website.

How to Clear Cache in WordPress

From time to time, you’ll feel the need to clear the cache of your WordPress site. These situations are rare but possible. Thus, you’ll want to be prepared for such events.

To clear the cache of your WordPress website, you need to enter the WordPress dashboard.

Once there, look at the sidebar menu, located on the left part of the admin panel, and look for the Setting button. Hover it, with your mouse, and find WP Super Cache.

Now that you’ve entered the settings of your WP Super Cache, you can clear the website cache of your WordPress.

When you’ve entered the WP Super Cache page, you need to go to Contents, and then figure out whether you want to delete:

• All generated cache to date
• Only the expired cache
• Or the Cached version of specific pages

The first two options you can do, are by clicking the buttons at the bottom of the Contents page. The buttons are pointed with the second arrow on the image below.

To delete the expired cache or all the cache gathered to date, you can use the buttons at the bottom of the “contents” page of the WP Super Cache settings page.

You may want to delete the cache of pages that are changed or are changing regularly so that the newly added content will be shown to the users, and the servers won’t show the old version of your website to your visitors.

To delete the cache of a specific page, so you’ll save the cached version of all the content that was not edited, you have to go, once again, to the WP Super Cache Settings, and afterward to the Contents page. From here you can go to a page that will show you a list of all cached files.

When you click on the link shown above, a new page will load. There you’ll find a list of all the cached files and pages. To find the one you are looking for, you can either look around, or you can click Ctrl+F (working on every browser), and write the URL of the page that you are looking for.

When you enter the ‘list all cached files’ page, a window will be presented to you. In the left half of that window, there will be a list of the URLs where the cached files (or pages) are located. Once you slide right, you’ll see the “Delete” option. To delete a specific page, click on the ‘X’ at the right end of the window.

The post What is WordPress Cache – How to Enable Caching to Your WordPress Website appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

Why Am I Experiencing This Type of Error?

WordPress is a complex content management system that is configured in a way that it cannot operate under two different URLs. In other words, there can be only one web address to choose from when it comes to hosting a single WordPress blog.

The message Too Many Redirects is a common WordPress error (also referred to as a redirect loop), which usually occurs when the URL setting is configured to the wrong web address. A faulty .htaccess file or a badly configured plugin can also cause your site to go into an infinite loop.

What Does a Too Many Redirects Error Look Like?

Internet browsers display and interpret the error message differently. The screenshot hereunder illustrates how the error Too Many Redirects looks in Google Chrome.

In Mozilla Firefox, the error message will look pretty similar to the one attached below:

How Can I Solve the Redirect Loop?

Based on our experience with WordPress, we can offer you the following four possible fixes:

Solution #1: Check the URL settings

• in your WordPress admin panel

The first thing you need to do is check the URL settings of your website in your WordPress dashboard. To perform a URL check:

1. Sign into your WordPress account as Administrator.
2. Once logged in, navigate to the Settings page and click General Settings.
3. When on the General Settings page, you will notice there is a list of settings and available options. Double-check and ensure that both, the WordPress and Site addresses, match.

If there is a mismatch between the two URLs (e.g. the WordPress Address is set to http://mydomain.com/, but the Site URL points to http://www.mydomain.com/), then you will need to make sure that both web addresses are identical.

• in your MySQL database

Another way to perform a web address check is through the built-in phpMyAdmin4 tool. Launch phpMyAdmin4 in a web browser and enter your database credentials.

After a successful login, find the table labeled wp-options. Click the selected table to view its contents.

Once in the editor, locate the rows siteurl and home. Verify the URL details in each of the two rows. The name of the siteurl address must match the home URL exactly.

• in your main configuration (wp-config.php) file

wp-config.php is the place where WordPress stores its database connection settings. In the main WordPress configuration file, users are also able to manually specify their URL location. This is one of the most preferred methods, since it does not require direct access to the admin panel and phpMyAdmin.

If you have set the website URL manually in your WordPress config, open up the file wp-config.php in your main domain directory and check your script for the following two global variables – define( ‘WP_HOME’, ‘http://www.mydomain.com’ ); and define( ‘WP_SITEURL’, ‘http://www.mydomain.com’).

Please verify that the WP_HOME address matches the WP_SITEURL hostname in the code.

Solution #2: Disable your plugins

Another way to resolve the error Too Many Redirects in WordPress is by deactivating the plugins that are currently active for your website.

By default, WordPress stores all its plugin-related data in a sub-folder called plugins. The plugins directory is usually found in the wp-content folder of every WordPress instance.

Right-click the plugins directory and press Rename. Give your folder a new name (e.g. plugins_disabled) and click the green check mark. Wait a couple seconds for our system to process your request.

After your plugins have been successfully disabled, visit your web page in a browser and re-test your WordPress application. If the redirection loop is no longer present on the page, it means that the problem is plugin-related.

To find out which plugin is causing the issue, rename the plugins directory back to plugins and start deactivating your extensions one by one until you find the problematic one.

Solution #3: Disable your default .htaccess file

If you have tried all of the above solutions and none of them has helped so far, you can temporarily disable WordPress’s main .htaccess file. The file in question is located in the root directory of WordPress and can be easily recognized by the dot sign in front of the document.

The renaming process is pretty easy to follow. All you need to do is right-click on the .htaccess file and then hit the Rename button. Remove the dot from your file name and save the submitted changes.

Launch your favorite Internet browser and enter your website’s URL in the address bar.

The post How to Fix the Too Many Redirects Error in WordPress appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

What Does the Error Mean?

If you are a website administrator and own a WordPress Hosting account, you have probably come across the Error Establishing a Database Connection error at some point. The message itself is a bit generic and does not give enough information about the root cause of the problem. However, what it means is that WordPress is encountering a problem while attempting to connect to its associated database.

The image illustrated below will give you a better idea and understanding of the warning.

Below, we’ve compiled a list of known solutions to the database connection issue that every WordPress administrator and end-user may encounter.

Solution #1: Check the wp-config.php file

If you have recently performed changes to your MySQL database via your Database Manager (such as modifying the password of your database) or your hosting account has been moved to a different server, then you will need to update the file wp-config.php as well.

wp-config.php (also known as the main configuration file) is probably the most important file in every WordPress system. It stores essential and sensitive information regarding your blog, such as the database connection settings and the security keys.

Open up the configuration file (it should be located in the root directory of your domain/sub-domain name). Once in the editor, look for the following four variables in your PHP code:

• define('DB_NAME')
• define('DB_USER')
• define('DB_PASSWORD')
• define('DB_HOST')

Double-check all four variables defined in the code and ensure that they match the database settings available in your Database Manager.

Solution #2: Repair the database

There are times when a database may become corrupt or damaged. Database corruption usually occurs as a result of a faulty or badly configured WordPress theme or plugin.

If you happen to receive an Error Establishing a Database Connection error, you can try to resolve the issue by repairing the MySQL database associated with your WordPress instance.

Performing a database repair is seamlessly easy and can be done in four steps:

1. Sign in to your AwardSpace account.
2. Once logged in, navigate to the MySQL Manager page inside your dashboard.
3. Locate the database that is linked to your WordPress site and click on the Options icon.
4. Open the Management tab and press the 1-click Repair button.

Now that you’ve followed the above steps, it is time for you to test your WordPress site’s connectivity. If everything goes as planned, no further error messages should appear on your page and your website should display properly.

The post How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

Since the 4.9.5 release, many WordPress users have started to experience an unforeseen error message upon uploading image files to their Image Library. The screenshot provided below shows an example that illustrates the error discussed here.

There are many possible reasons for this strange behavior. However, the most common one is a restriction in WordPress that does not allow the upload of pictures with high resolution.

There are several things you can do to troubleshoot and resolve the outlined error. Below is a list of suggestions (solutions) that we hope you find helpful.

Solution #1: Updating WordPress

One way to resolve the HTTP Error in WordPress is by upgrading your Content Management System to the latest stable version. The latest WordPress version (4.9.7) contains a fix against this bug and also provides an extra layer of security to your website.

The most convenient way to upgrade your CMS instance is through the built-in WordPress Updates page, available in every WordPress dashboard:

Solution #2: Increasing the maximum upload size and script execution time

In order to increase the maximum upload size and script execution time limit on the account, you will need to make a slight modification to your web server’s PHP configuration (PHP.ini) file.

PHP configuration changes are done via the AwardSpace PHP Settings Manager. Once you are inside the editor, search for the post_max_size, upload_max_filesize and max_execution_time variables. After you locate the three PHP variables, you should configure their values to:

At the end, your PHP.ini file should look similar to this:

Note: Full access to the PHP.ini file is only given to our premium users. Therefore, if you’re on a free plan and are interested in upgrading your account, you are more than welcome to review our premium offers at our WordPress hosting page.

Solution #3: Lowering the image resolution

Another way to overcome the outlined error is by optimizing your photos and reducing the size of your image files, especially if they’re larger than 3000 x 2000 pixels.

Full-size images consume a lot of time and storage, so it is advisable that you optimize your photos prior to uploading them to your WordPress site’s Image Library.

There are a variety of online tools that can help you decrease the size and resolution of your image files. Below we’ve listed some of the most common ones (all of them come free of charge and are easy to use):

• Optimizilla
• TinyPNG
• Kraken

Now that you have followed the above steps, it’s time for you to test your WordPress site’s upload capabilities. In order to do so, log back into the admin area of your website and navigate to the Image Library page.

If everything goes as expected, your upload will go through and your image file will appear in the Media Library.

The post How to Fix the HTTP Error When Uploading Images in WordPress appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

What Does the Error Mean?

By default, the maximum amount of data that can be transferred via PHP is 5MB. If you are a WordPress administrator and attempt to upload a file larger than this value, your upload will be interrupted and your web page will produce a POST Content-Length Exceeded warning.

The following screenshot shows an example that illustrates the error POST Content-Length.

How Can I Increase the Maximum Upload Limit in WordPress?

The maximum limit on uploading data in WordPress can be changed by modifying the PHP variables post_max_size and upload_max_filesize, both of which can be found in your web hosting account’s main php.ini file.

AwardSpace offers its users to change these PHP variables in the following two ways:

• through the AwardSpace PHP Settings Manager
• with the use of a custom php.ini file

Note: Both features are only available to our premium hosting account customers. If you own a free hosting plan and are looking to get a premium one, you are welcome to review our offers at our shared hosting page.

Solution #1: Using the AwardSpace PHP Settings Manager

1. Sign in to your AwardSpace account via our login portal.
2. Under the Advanced Tools area, click on the PHP Settings link.
3. Click on the here link in order to access the PHP Settings editor.
4. Once you are inside the editor, locate the variables post_max_size and upload_max_filesize.
5. Set the upload limit to a value greater than the size of your theme file and press Save.

Solution #2: Generating a custom php.ini file

An alternative way to increase the maximum upload limit is with the creation of a php.ini file.

Create a new file under your WordPress main directory and name it php.ini. Using your favorite editor or our built-in File Manager, open the php.ini file you’ve created and insert the below code into it:

The above set of rules will allow you to upload files via PHP up to 30MB in size.

After you submit the changes, log into your WordPress back-end and retry the upload process. If everything goes as expected, you will receive a system notification that your theme/plugin has been installed.

The post How to Fix the POST Content-Length Exceeded Error appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

Customer care is a crucial part of every business. That’s why it is important that you always stay in touch with your customers.

Step #1: Install an SMTP plugin

In this tutorial will be using the WP Mail SMTP plugin, which has proven to be an invaluable and useful tool for every WordPress user. The plugin itself comes free of charge and works perfectly well on our WordPress hosting platform.

1. 1. Log into your WordPress account as Administrator.
   2. Once logged in, navigate to the Plugins page to add a plugin and press Add New.
   3. In the Keyword search box, type WP Mail SMTP.

1. 1. WordPress will show a list of available plugins. Locate the WP Mail SMTP plugin (it should be first in list) and click Install Now.

1. 1. To activate WP Mail SMTP, press Activate.

Step #2: Configure the SMTP plugin

After successful activation, the plugin will add a new option under your Settings menu called WP Mail SMTP.

To begin configuring WP Mail SMTP, please follow these basic instructions:

1. 1. Navigate to the WP Mail SMTP plugin’s page.

1. 1. Click on the Settings link and enter your e-mail address in the From Email box.

1. 1. Choose Other SMTP from the available Mailer options.

1. 1. Fill in the following fields:

1. 1. • SMTP Host: the address of your mail (SMTP) server
      • Encryption: if you wish to send email in a secure manner, please configure SSL; otherwise please select None
      • SMTP Port: the standard SMTP ports are 25 and 587 (for SSL, please use port 465)
      • Auto TLS: must be set to On
      • Authentication: must be set to On
      • SMTP Username: the name of your e-mail account
      • SMTP Password: the password for your e-mail account

If you are not sure what settings to use, please review our Email Account Settings tutorial to obtain the correct details or contact our dedicated support team for assistance.

Note: If you are an owner of a premium WordPress hosting plan and have an external mail server that you want to be used for sending out notification letters, please submit a ticket from the corresponding hosting account and request your outbound SMTP connections to be enabled.

Step #3: Test the plugin SMTP capabilities

To see if your SMTP plugin is capable of reaching email boxes, open the Email Test menu and enter an e-mail address of your choice. Click the Send Email button to send a message.

If everything goes as planned, you will receive a report that your message has been delivered to the specified e-mail address.

That’s it! You have successfully configured WordPress to send emails via SMTP.

The post How to Send Emails via SMTP in WordPress appeared first on AwardSpace.com.

9 Tips to Improve WordPress Speed and Performance

Below is a list of tips and suggestions on how to speed up your WordPress blog:

Choose the right hosting provider

The success of a website is linked to the company providing a hosting service for it. Therefore, choosing the right hosting provider is the most important aspect that you have to consider.

Use a CDN Service

What Does CDN Stand For?

CDN stands for Content Delivery Network. A Content Delivery Network is a chain of servers located all over the world, the main purpose is to serve web and cached content to users, depending on their geographical location.

How Does It Work?

Whenever visitors request a page on your website, the closest CDN server will deliver a cached version of that page to them. This will save them a lot of waiting (loading) time, especially if they reside in a place far from the actual data center.

Which CDN Service Would You Recommend?

We recommend Cloudflare for the best results and performance. Cloudflare includes a free and paid version. The free package should cover most of your needs since it comes with free protection against DDoS attacks and offers a free SSL certificate.

Install a Cache plugin

Another way to boost your website performance is by enabling a Cache plugin in WordPress. Cache plugins convert dynamic pages into HTML and help your web content serve quicker.

We mainly use WP Super Cache for our projects. WP Super Cache is a great feature for every WordPress site and comes free of charge.

To install and setup WordPress WP Super Cache plugin:

1. 1. Log into your WordPress dashboard.
   2. Visit the Plugins page and press Add New.
   3. In the Keyword search box enter WP Super Cache.

1. 1. Your desired plugin will appear first in the list. To install it, click Install Now.

1. 1. Once activated, go to the WP Super Cache settings page and select the Caching On option.

1. Click Update Status to finalize the installation process.

Reduce the size of the images

One of the best methods to increase the speed of your WordPress site is by optimizing your photos and reducing the size of your image files.

Full-size images consume a lot of time and storage, so it is strongly recommended that you optimize your photos prior to uploading them to the server.

There are a variety of online optimization tools that can help you compress your images and are free to use. Below we’ve listed some of them:

• Optimizilla
• TinyPNG
• Kraken

Optimize the MySQL database

The idea for MySQL optimization is to speed up the response time of your database queries.

The AwardSpace Control Panel comes with a built-in solution for optimizing MySQL data. Simply go to the MySQL Manager and click on the Options icon right next to your database. Open the Management tab and select 1-click Optimization from the available options.

If you have many MySQL databases hosted in your account and are unsure which MySQL database is linked to your WordPress application, simply go to the File Manager and look for the wp-config.php file inside your domain’s root directory.

Once in the editor, look for the line that says define('DB_NAME'). In our case, the name of the database is 1234567_wpress.

Keep WordPress and its plugins up-to-date

Obsolete themes and plugins can also have a negative impact on your website’s speed and performance – they can cause a web application to run slow and are vulnerable to attacks.

Considering the above, it is highly recommended that you update your WordPress application and its add-ons on a regular basis. WordPress has a built-in feature that automatically checks for available updates and installs those for you.

Reduce the number of plugins

Plugins can dramatically slow down the speed of your site – the more add-ons you have, the more code your browser will have to load.

Our experience shows that a single WordPress instance can handle 10-15 plugins without any trouble. That’s why we recommend you keep the number of plugins installed in your WordPress application below 15.

Avoid uploading videos directly to the server

Video files can add a lot of weight and additional loading time to your web pages.

If you have clips on your WordPress site, it will be a good idea to upload those videos to an external video-sharing platform, and then embed them into your post/page. Our How to Embed a YouTube Video in WordPress guide explains in detail how to embed a YouTube video on a web page.

By doing so, your browser will avoid downloading the entire video content from the server and will make your web page load much faster. Another benefit is that a significant amount of your monthly bandwidth will be saved.

The post Speed Optimization appeared first on AwardSpace.com.