My Blogger Tricks

Safeguarding Wordpress: Protect Your Site From Hacking Using These 10 Tips

Posted: 19 Sep 2020 04:59 AM PDT

Being an open source platform, Wordpress remains to be a target for hackers. You know all too well how annoying and disappointing hackers can be. Bearing that in mind, you might as well equip yourself with some tips on how best to safeguard your site from hackers. Follow the following tips and keep hackers at bay:

Go for trusted plugins and themes

Plugins are sort of Wordpress extensions that help with functionality. They are also meant to give your wordpress site a professional look. There are millions of plugins but that does not make all of them authentic. For that reason, you need to do background checks before installing a plugin or software as some come with compromised codes that hackers can use to access your site.

There are unbiased plugin reviews you can look at when checking the reliability of a plugin. Any other software, such as forex backtesting software that you may integrate on your wordpress site should be trusted too.

TSL/SSL Encryption

Sometimes all a hacker has to do is listen to your unsecured network and steal your password. They are able to do this when the communication between your browser and the server is not encrypted. To prevent this, you need TSL/SSL encryption so that lurking hackers cannot find access to your site.

Get a Firewall Plugin

When you are able to filter the traffic coming in your site, you don't have to be worried about hackers. The work of a firewall like CloudFlare or Sucuri is to detect hack attempts and DDoS attacks and prevent them from finding their way in your site.

Update Your Plugins Routinely

Un-updated plugins are a disaster recipe. Their vulnerability could cost you your site when hackers intercept it. For that reason, you should keep up with plugin updates whenever they are made available. Also, only use plugins you know you will get time to update instead of having many of them and fail to manage them therefore compromising your site.

Use Strong Password

Weak passwords are easy to guess. Hackers use special software to force logins which is also known as brute-force attacks until they get access. Go for a strong password, mix random numbers or words all while making it easy to remember yet hard to guess. You should also consider changing your password after every few months.

Use a Reliable Hosting Service

You could take all the other necessary precautions for protecting your wordpress site but if your choice of host is not secure, it's all zero work. If you choose to use public Wi-Fi for instance, ensure your browsing is well encrypted. Should you go for a VPN, ensure that their privacy policies and security standards are top notch. You don't want to use a hosting network that shares your logs with third parties, putting your site into risk.

Limit Login Attempts

A hacker can finally access your site after consecutive failed login attempts but you can prevent them from succeeding by limiting login attempts. This you do by installing a plugin that limits up to five or even more user login attempts. Therefore, when someone inputs their password or username erroneously for five times consecutively, their IP addresses are blocked from login again.

Change Login URL

If your site is running on wordpress login URL, it makes it easier for hackers to access your site. Using a plugin like WPS Hide Login enables you to find your login URL making it impossible for hackers to get a hold on it. Changing your login URL is something that even security professionals agree with, because it not only hides the fact that you are using wordpress, but helps protect your site.

Backup and Frequent Checkups

As much as you may invest towards safeguarding your wordpress site, sometimes worse days just have their way. You should prepare yourself to face one of those worse days should they come knocking. Carrying out routine checkups helps you find any suspicious activities on the site and take necessary action. If you happen to lose your site to attackers, a backup will ensure that you do not lose everything completely.

6 Best Apps For Bloggers

Posted: 19 Sep 2020 04:48 AM PDT

For many, the thought of a work from home lifestyle is enticing. Bloggers know all too well of the lifestyle. While it is nice to get paid from the comfort of your own home, it isn't all fun and games. Work is work no matter where the location is. Bloggers must stay on task and do their due diligence. That's where apps can come in handy. Many apps eliminate guesswork or take care of other details so the blogger can simply focus on writing. From organizing ideas and projects into visual boards to correcting spelling errors, apps certainly help make things more efficient.

Here are six of the best apps for bloggers.

Grammarly

This may be the mother of all apps for bloggers. Grammarly is a free online writing assistant. From detecting the tone of your written work, to aiding in proper punctuation, Grammarly does it all. This is important for bloggers as many readers expect the writers to be clear and if written pieces are filled with errors, that blogger can lose credibility and the reader may be lost forever. Bloggers who stay on top of their emails can also use Grammarly to ensure their messages are mistake-free as well.

Schedugram

Most bloggers are aware of the importance of social media in this era. It's an easy way to promote website content and it's free, barring paying for advertising. One of the biggest social media platforms is Instagram. Schedugram allows bloggers to schedule their Instagram posts and provides a visual look at past and future posts.

Google Analytics

Blogging on the go? If so, it would be wise to download the Google Analytics app. This will allow you instant access to your website's traffic. You can easily see which pieces are clicking with your readers and which ones aren't. With real-time results and the ability to track the viewership for each article, it's a must-have app for Bloggers who are running a business.

Bitly

Bitly is a free app that allows you to shorten those long links. This increases productivity and makes your links recognizable by readers across all channels. Ultimately, it could lead to an increase in clicks for your website.

Weebly

The Weebly app is perfect for those looking to build a professional website. If you already have your site in order, you can use this app to create an online store.

WordPress

WordPress is the leading web publishing platform. Taking this app on the go is a must if you're a blogger who is constantly on the go. Whether you need to add a plug-in or do some writing during your travels, WordPress is where it's at.

Those are six of the best apps for bloggers and those digital nomads. With Grammarly, Schedugram, Google Analytics, Bitly, Weebly, and WordPress, you will be set to do what you do best while ensuring that productivity is at its peak. Whether you're just starting or are an experienced blogger, these apps are a must.

My Blogger Tricks

No Time for Social Media? 4 Tips to Consider

Posted: 14 Sep 2020 10:25 AM PDT

Social media can be one of the most powerful tools in your box as a business owner. But, managing and making the most from social media can be tricky and time-consuming if you are not an expert. How do you improve engagement with your audience? Craft social posts that encourage your audience to convert? Make sure that you are posting interesting social content on a regular basis? When you have all the other aspects of running your business to consider, it can quickly start to cut into your time.

These tips are designed to help you get the results you want from your social efforts.

Work With an Agency:

Hiring a social media agency can save you both time and money while improving your overall results. If your social campaigns have been slacking recently and you barely find the time to post, working with an agency can be an ideal way to free up your time while providing you with peace of mind that you've got an expert on the case. Jen Boyles Digital can help you come up with a social strategy, engaging content, and regular posts to help you make the most of your social media presence, while you focus on the other stuff.

Hire a Freelancer:

An agency not quite in your budget right now? Another alternative to free up your time and make sure that you are getting the most from your social media presence is to hire a freelancer. A freelance writer can craft blog posts and social content to share on a regular basis and you can find freelancers who exclusively work to produce social media ads and manage your content calendar. Since you will usually pay them on a per-job basis it can be a very cost-effective way of getting the results that you need.

Automation Tools:

Automation tools like Hootsuite are the business owner's best friend when it comes to social media publishing. You can create a content calendar and schedule posts to be published across all platforms at any given time or date, helping you reduce a significant amount of time scheduling posts individually or logging into different platforms to hit publish.

Create Content in Bulk:

While there's always going to be certain types of content that are time-sensitive and will need to be created as and when necessary, most of the time you can get a huge chunk of content out of the way, schedule it to be published, and then forget about it for a while. Set aside some time to write blog posts, shoot videos, and create graphics to post to social media and write captions to accompany them. Depending on how much time you have, you can create a content calendar for the upcoming week or even the month ahead. Once your content's done, you can simply use a tool like Hootsuite to schedule publishing.

Social media is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal when running a business, but are you making the most of it? Keep these tips in mind if you're always running out of time to focus on social media.

4 Reasons To Hire a Freelance Writer For Your Blog

Posted: 14 Sep 2020 09:44 AM PDT

You've launched your business blog, hoping to publish regular posts and super-charge your content marketing efforts. There's no denying that having a business blog can benefit your company in many different ways, including providing more content for search engines to index and giving you a platform from which you can showcase your industry knowledge and expertise.

However, you may have realized that you simply don't have enough time to research, write, and publish consistent blog posts as much as you'd like to. The solution: Hire a freelance writer to do it for you.

Save Money:

Of course, you need to pay your writer - but outsourcing your business blog to a freelancer can actually save, rather than cost you money. This is because while they're getting on with writing your blog posts, you can focus on the other stuff that really matters, like growing your business and bringing in more profit. And, a freelance writer can be a very cost-effective solution since most writers will work on a per-project basis, meaning that you can simply pay them as and when you need a blog post writing.

It's Flexible:

Hiring a freelance writer is much more flexible as opposed to taking on an in-house copywriter. When working with a freelancer, you can choose how much work you'd like to give them for the month, making it easier for you to reduce your costs as and when needed compared to paying somebody a set monthly wage. In addition, most freelance writers are happy to work to get tasks done outside of regular office hours, which isn't always the case with full-time employees who are only obliged to work at the times you pay them.

Get an Expert Pair of Eyes on Your Content:

A freelance writer will likely have plenty of experience producing blog posts for small businesses and may be able to help you see hidden angles that you may not have noticed yourself. A good writer from The Hunt Agency will be able to offer you a second, expert opinion on the blog posts that you create yourself, spot spelling and grammatical errors that you might have missed, and help you ensure that you stick to a consistent brand voice. And, many freelance writers are experienced with optimizing content for SEO, which can come in handy if you want to improve your search engine visibility.

Stay on Top of Your Blog:

If your content calendar has been quite sporadic so far as you have to divide your time between writing blog posts and getting everything else done, hiring a freelance writer can help you ensure that things become a bit more consistent. Rather than having to find the time to work on researching and writing blog posts when you can, your writer can take over while you get on with everything else, providing you with consistent content to post on a regular basis no matter how busy you are.

Whether your blog is your business or you are adding a blog feature to an existing business website, working with a freelance writer can help you get the best results.

CODES IN PAGES

Saturday, September 19, 2020