SEO Hosting Blog

It doesn’t happen too often, but there are times when you will be faced with the task of transferring your website and content from one server to another. A few reasons why you would need to do this come to mind. Perhaps your current web hosting provider lacks in good service and support. Maybe the quality of your connection is terrible. Or, maybe you have found a better deal somewhere else.

There are many reasons why you could find yourself in need to transfer your website and if you don’t know how to do it, life can quickly become miserable. Transferring your website from one server to another isn’t actually too difficult. Once your know the steps to take and how to execute them, transferring your website will be breeze.

I suspect that many people have tried to transfer their website using FTP. This method does work, but it can take a really long time. The reason why it can take a long time is because you have to download your content to your own personal computer and then upload it all back to the new server. Also, if your site runs on a database, such as WordPress and MySQL, you can’t get a copy of your database via FTP.

A better and faster way to transfer your website from one server to another is to use Secure Shell (SSH). For starters, you rule out the middleman… that’s you! Instead of downloading the copy of your website to your personal computer and uploading it to the new server, using SSH, you can bypass that process and transfer direct from your old server to the new server. This is useful for many reasons.

One immediate reason the comes to mind is that the transfer will constantly run. If you make transfers via FTP, your computer has to stay connected. The moment you shut your computer down, the connection is lost. With SSH, once you initiate the transfer, the connection between the two servers isn’t dependent on the connection of your personal computer.

Step One: Enable Secure Shell (SSH) Access

The first thing you want to do is make sure both of your web hosting accounts offer Secure Shell access. If you use HostGator, go here to enabled SSH. For BlueHost customers, go here. GoDaddy customers can go here. For all others, simply contact your web hosting provider for specific instructions on how to enable Secure Shell access.

Step Two: Download CLI / SSH Client Software

Next you will need to download a SSH client. Don’t worry… the program you need is free. There’s quite a few to choose from. Some cost money, but most are free, and will fit your needs perfectly. These programs looks similar to DOS and require similar commands. I know that many people avoid coding and programming, but honestly… using a SSH client isn’t that hard to do. It’s just a matter of knowing the right commands. And honestly, most people don’t memorize commands, they bookmark them and copy & paste them into the console. I want to share that because that was one of the main reasons why I avoided using command line programs for many years.

I assumed that I would need to actually be a programmer, and I would have to be fluent with the command and language. Once I discovered that most people don’t actually memorize the different commands and languages, I started to gain a bigger picture on how SSH can be useful to me. In fact, transferring my website from one server to another was one of the first things I learned how to do using SSH. And that’s the reason why I posted this article. It’s only a guess, but I suspect that this is one of the main reasons why many people gain an interest in using command line interface programs.

For Windows users, I recommend Putty. You can get a copy here. Choose the first option. For Mac and Linux users, your operating system already includes a program that works fine. For Mac users, open Finder, go to Applications, scroll down to Utilities and open the folder, scroll down and look for Terminal and open it. For Linux users using Ubuntu, open the Applications Menu, then open the Accessories menu, and then open Terminal.

Step Three: Login Via SSH To Your Existing Web Hosting Account

Now it’s time to start the transfer. Once again, in order to do this, you need to make sure SSH has been enabled on both web hosting accounts. Login to your existing web hosting account. The basic command to do this is:

ssh username@domainname.com or ssh username@ipaddress

Be sure to check with your web hosting provider as the commands will vary. For example, if you’re a HostGator customer, you will need to use this command:

ssh -p 2222 username@ipaddress

If you need additional support, HostGator customers can go here to learn more. For BlueHost customers, go here. Godaddy customers, go here. For all others, check with your web hosting provider for specific instructions.

Step Four: Start The Transfer

Once you are logged into your existing web hosting account, you can start the transfer process. Before you can initiate the transfer though, you need to know where your content is located on the existing server, and where you want to put the content on the new server. In most cases everything will be located in the public_html folder. You will be making the transfer using the SCP command, which stands for Secure Copy.

Type: pwd to figure out where you’re at on the server:

[garrycon@gator674 ~]$ pwd
/home/garrycon

Type: dir to figure out what directories are on your server:

[garrycon@gator674 ~]$ dir
access-logs etc mail public_ftp ruby webdisk
cgi-bin logs php.ini public_html tmp www

Type: cd public_html to “change directory” to public_html:

[garrycon@gator674 ~]$ cd public_html
[garrycon@gator674 ~/public_html]$

Type: pwd again to verify your location on the server and to get the full address location:

[garrycon@gator674 ~/public_html]$ pwd
/home/garrycon/public_html

The address location will be needed when you enter the command to start the transfer. Verify the location you want to transfer your content to on your new server. In most cases, the location will be the same, public_html. To start the transfer use this command, but be sure to modify it to match your usernames, addresses, and locations for both servers:

scp -r folder/location/ username@serveraddress.com: /folder/

An example:

scp -r home/garrycon/public_html/ garryconn@74.53.87.195: /home/garryconn/

That’s it! This will immediately start the transfer of your content from your old web server to your new one. Let me explain what this code means and what it does.

scp -r = Secure copy a directory. scp can copy individual files. scp-r is used to copy entire directories.

folder/ = The full path on your existing server to the content you want to transfer to your new server. Example, using home/garrycon/public_html/ will transfer everything in the public_html directory to the new server. If you have an add-on domain that you would like to transfer by itself, the code would be home/garrycon/public_html/add-on_domain.com/ This command will transfer the contents in your add-on_domain.com/ folder only.

username@serveraddress.com: = This is the username and address of your new server that you will be transferring your content to. This will make a secure connection from your existing server to your new server. An example is garryconn@74.53.87.195:

/folder/location = This is the location where you want your content to go on the new server. In most cases this will match the existing location on your old server. public_html isn’t included is because doing so will result in your content being transfered to public_html/public_html.

This last part may be confusing, so I will explain it further. If your content is located on your existing server at /home/username/public_html and you want to transfer the public_html directory to your new server. The public_html directory should be located in your /home/username/ folder on your new server.

In other words, the entire code means this: With a secure connection, copy the directory that contains my content on the existing server. Login to my new server with a secure connection and paste the directory.

scp -r folder/ username@serveraddress.com:/folder/location

If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to leave a comment. Keep an eye out for my next post while will explain how to transfer your MySQL database from one server to another.

Want to keep visitors clicking forward on your website? Follow these 6 simple tips.

1. Create content that delivers on its promise—Make sure the description in your organic or paid search listings truly matches the content that’s on the landing page being linked to. If you promise your visitors one thing and give them another, you can bet they’ll leave your site quickly.
2. Don’t reinvent the wheel with your navigation—If you want people to stay on your site longer and click forward, doesn’t it make sense to keep your navigation as simple and easy to understand as possible? Place the navigation where web users have come to expect it (up top, or along the left-hand side) and make sure each section is clearly marked.

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Using video on your landing pages is a good way to engage visitors, more clearly deliver your sales message, and get more conversions.  It also helps you keep visitors on your website longer. When used properly, video helps make everything on the page more effective, but if you use it the wrong way, the video can quickly become a distraction, keeping you from making the conversion.

Today, I want to briefly touch on some tips for integrating video into your landing pages. If you have any additional tips or experience using video on your websites, please leave a comment to let us know.

• Use a script—The words you say in your video need to be carefully planned out. You should put as much effort into writing the script as you would any other piece of sales copy. Using a script ensures you have a tight message, and it keeps you from rambling and losing the viewer’s interest.
• Good audio/video quality is essential—I’m not saying you have to drop thousands to shoot a video worthy of being on the big screen, but you do have to make sure your video is clear and the audio is easy to hear. Grainy video or bad audio will frustrate users and cause them to leave your website.

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For the most part, whenever I’m hired to write web copy, the client already has a website or they’re already in the process of putting one up. However, I was recently part of a project in which the client had just decided to build a new website and they needed suggestions for domain names. To be honest, domain name selection isn’t something I do on a regular basis, but I do have some basic guidelines I follow when picking one.

1. Consider the brand—If you already have an established brand name, it probably makes sense to use that as your domain name. However, if you’re a new company or you aren’t building around an established brand, then maybe you don’t need a brand-driven domain name.
2. Look at the top keywords—Not only do keyword-rich domains still help with SEO, but they also tend to clearly describe who you are/what you do. So, start brainstorming some keywords and doing some keyword research online. One thing to keep in mind: When choosing a keyword-based domain, use broader keywords that capture everything you do, not service-specific keywords. For example, if you’re a graphic designer that handles all types of design (print and online), you wouldn’t want to limit yourself with a domain like “houstonwebdesigner.com.”
3. Make sure it’s completely different—It’s not enough to simply choose a domain that’s available. You also have to make sure the domain you choose isn’t too similar to any others that are already out there. For example, it wouldn’t be wise to choose “houstonwebdesigners.com” if there’s a competitor out there with “houstonwebdesigner.com”. It’s too similar, making it too easy for people to get confused. Be as unique as possible.
4. Make it memorable—The easier your domain name is to remember, the better. A good domain is something people could easily tell their friends at a party and the friends could remember it when they get home.
5. Keep it simple—Good domain names are easy to type. If you choose a long domain name or one with complex verbiage, you make it hard for people who just want to type in your domain name and go to your website. Keep it simple.
6. Stick with .com available domains—If you’re trying to build a serious brand, I always recommend getting a .com domain. The bottom line is that “.com” is the first thing the average web user thinks of when typing in a web address. So, if your website is on a “.biz” or even “.net”, and someone who has heard of you is trying to get to your website, they could end up on a competitor’s “.com” or just a nonexistent page.
7. Avoid hyphenated domains—Again, if you’re trying to create a brand that people tell their friends about, avoid hyphenated domains. It’s too easy to forget hyphens when typing a domain, and when people talk about your website, they won’t refer to it as “red hyphen and hyphen blue hyphen widgets dot com”. They’ll likelier say “red and blue widgets dot com.”

What are some of your rules for good domain name selection? Share your tips by leaving a comment.

If you have a particular blog post that is getting a lot of search traffic, it might interest you in turning the blog post into it’s own website. There are many reasons why it could be beneficial to do so. One reason is that it can allow you a way to expand on targeting further related keywords based on the primary set of keywords the blog post is already ranking for. Another reason is that the general topic of the article could be expanded into it’s own blog. The key thing to know is that if you have a blog post that is consistently receiving traffic, it is possible to convert the post into a website. In this post, I will show you how it can be done.

A few conditions need to be assumed prior to following these steps. Number one, your blog needs to be a self-hosted WordPress blog. Secondly, you need to have modified your permalink structure to %postname%/. WordPress is database driven and creates dynamic urls. Meaning, pages do not physically exist on your server. Instead, they are dynamically created. For example, if you have a post with the url http://www.yourblog.com/my-post-about-dogs/ in theory, this should exist on your server here: public_html/my-post-about-dogs/index.php. But, if you FTP into your server, you will see that this does not exist.

And that’s the trick. This is how you can convert the blog post into it’s own site or even separate blog. In order to do this, you need to login to FTP and create the physical directory that WordPress has created dynamically, and either upload an index.php file, or simply install a new WordPress blog inside the directory. The beauty of this trick is that even though you have overridden the existing dynamic structure with a physical directory and file(s), the existing dynamic reference is still maintained within the original WordPress install.

That means your existing blog post will still show up in all of the sections in your blog. Formally, if it was still appearing on the home page, even after you override the post by manually uploading a directory and index file, it will still appear on your original blog home page. The same applies to the post reference from the archive, category, search, and tag sections. However, when the post title is clicked on, instead of the original post being loaded, the newly uploaded section will load instead. If you simply uploaded a directory with index.php file, the index.php file will load. If you decided to install WordPress inside the directory, the home page of the newly installed blog will load instead.

The above screen shot shows a blog post I wrote about pizza coupons and specials. The post picked up a lot of traffic in Google so I decided to override the post with a physical php file instead. The dynamically generated URL for this post is http://www.garryconn.com/pizza-hut-specials-coupons.php.

So, in order to optimize this page and capitalize on the traffic, I created my own web page from scratch, saved the file as pizza-hut-specials-coupons.php and uploaded it to the root directory of my server. (i.e. public_html/pizza-hut-specials-coupons.php).

Once I did that, the physical file overrode the existing dynamic file. The end result is now I have my own specially created web page that maintains the same permalink structure as the dynamically created one by WordPress.

Above, I had mentioned that you can do this if your WordPress permalink structure is set to %postname%/, this can also be done if you have it set other ways such as %postname%.php. The key is the make sure that your permalink structure is not set to default: ?p=123. The reason is because you will not be able to manually upload physical files to your server.

I hope all this makes sense. If you have any questions about how to do this, feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll provide assistance as soon as I can.