SiteCare

Core Web Vitals are vital 😆 for any website that wants to perform well. Focusing some efforts on improving user experience to complement your SEO strategy is well worth the effort (in our honest opinion). So, how do you know what shape your Core Web Vitals are in, and, most importantly, how do you fix them? In just 15-30 minutes, you can get a good idea of your site's performance in Core Web Vitals and how to get started with improving them. 1️⃣ Review Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console - this will tell you what pages are struggling and what metrics need improving 2️⃣ Run some URLs through PageSpeed Insights or GTMetrix - these tools help you identify specific performance issues and give tips on how to make improvments 3️⃣ Fix, scan, repeat - once you know what needs to be fixed, work out the best way to resolve the issue and run a new scan to see if there are any improvements. We'll drop a link to a more comprehensive resource in the first comment. ➕ And while you're there in the comments section, start a conversation with our team to see how we can help if you're struggling with CWV. Check the comments to read more about how to perform a Core Web Vitals audit. #corewebvitals #wordpress #websiteaudit #googlesearchconsole

Back before we introduced our Core Web Vitals guarantee, clients would come to us for quick, one-off optimizations. Their sites would be flying ⚡—until suddenly, they weren’t. Even the slightest dip 📉 would bring them back for help. With our Core Web Vitals guarantee, we’re always one step ahead. Optimizing Core Web Vitals isn’t a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ deal. It takes continuous monitoring 🔍 and fine-tuning to keep those scores in the green 🟢. But how can you stay on top of Core Web Vitals yourself? Google Search Console: The ultimate checkpoint, although it updates about every 28 days. It’s great for identifying pages that need work. Automatic Monitoring Tools: We use DebugBear 🐻 to get instant insights. These tools give us almost real-time feedback, so we know quickly if optimizations hit the mark or need a second pass. Scanning Tools: Platforms like PageSpeed Insights 🚀 and GTMetrix make it easy to do a manual scan anytime, showing performance shifts in real time. While some tools can help set up automated scans and alerts, staying on top of it can still be a time commitment. Need a hand keeping your site in top shape? Drop a comment below to learn more about our Core Web Vitals guarantee! 👇 #CoreWebVitals #SiteSpeed #GoogleSearchConsole #DebugBear #PageSpeedInsights #GTMetrix #WebsiteMaintenance #WordPress"

Ever wondered about WordPress user roles? They’re more than just titles—they’re a crucial line of defense for your site’s security. WordPress has 6 built-in user roles, each with different permissions: 🌐 Super Admin: Full control of everything on multisite networks. 🛠️ Administrator: Access to manage everything on a single site—content, plugins, themes, you name it. ✍️ Editor: Can edit and publish all content, including other users’ posts. 🖊️ Author: Can publish their own posts but won’t see anyone else’s. 📝 Contributor: Can draft their own posts but needs an Editor (or above) to publish. 👤 Subscriber: Great for membership sites—only able to manage their own profile. Assigning the right user role isn’t just about permissions; it’s about minimizing risk by limiting access points. Fewer admins mean fewer security vulnerabilities. Many plugins, like Yoast SEO, also offer custom roles, giving users the ability to do more without risking site security. You can even create custom roles tailored to your unique site needs. Want to learn more about getting the most out of WordPress user roles for security and functionality? Check out our guide: https://hubs.li/Q02WDbj_0 #WordPress #UserRoles #SiteSecurity #WPAdmin #WordPressTips

Ever felt a bit lost navigating DNS settings for your website? You’re not alone! After nearly 20 years of WordPress development and maintenance, we’ve become pretty handy with DNS changes for our clients. But what exactly do all those DNS record types do? Here’s a quick rundown: • A Records: Link your domain name to an IP address. Think of it as assigning your website a home address. • AAAA Records: Just like A records, but they point to an IPv6 address—the newer version of IP addresses. • CNAME Records: Create an alias for a domain name. For example, you can have "https://hubs.li/Q02VFtnn0" point to "https://hubs.li/Q02VFqKf0" seamlessly. • MX Records: Specify the mail servers responsible for handling email for your domain. Crucial for ensuring your emails reach the right place. • TXT Records: Store text-based information. Often used for verification purposes like SPF or DKIM to enhance your email security. Understanding these can make managing your website a whole lot easier! Got questions about DNS or WordPress? Drop them below—we’re here to help. #dns #domains #wordpress #dnsrecords

🚀 Is your WordPress site builder helping or hurting your website’s performance? When building a WordPress site, the possibilities feel endless—you can bring almost any idea to life with the right tools. But here’s the catch: not all tools are created equal. Some might seem user-friendly but could be sacrificing your site’s speed and efficiency. Let’s chat about the two main players in WordPress site-building: 🔹 Page Builders These have been around since 2011, starting with WPBakery. They opened doors for non-programmers to design websites without heavy coding or relying solely on pre-built themes. Popular names like Elementor, Divi, and Beaver Builder have since added a ton of features to make site-building even easier. But there’s a flip side. Their convenience can come with downsides: • Performance Issues: Extra features can bloat your site, slowing it down. • Plugin Reliance: They often need third-party plugins for additional functions. • Complex Updates: Updates might cause issues that require advanced troubleshooting. • Lock-In Effect: Moving away from them can be a major challenge. 🔹 Gutenberg Block Editor Native to WordPress, blocks have evolved into powerful tools that can achieve nearly any layout or design you envision. While there’s a bit of a learning curve—and occasionally some CSS or coding helps—they’re becoming more user-friendly every day. The perks of using blocks: • Performance-Focused: Being part of WordPress, they’re optimized for speed. • Less Bloat: Typically require fewer additional plugins. • Future-Proofing: Easier to maintain and update over time. Both options have their pros and cons, and the best choice often depends on your specific needs and comfort level. We’re curious—what’s your preference when building WordPress sites? Page builders or the block editor? Share your experiences below! 👇 #gutenberg #wordpress #pagebuilders

Activity logging is a must-have for every WordPress site 📈🔐 Not only does it help with troubleshooting, but it also enhances: ✅ Security ✅ Performance ✅ User Accountability ✅ Compliance Our most recent blog discusses the different types of activity logging and how it helps maintain a secure and efficient site. 👉 Read more about activity logging and how to implement it on your WordPress website: https://hubs.li/Q02VFKn00 #WordPress #WebsiteSecurity #ActivityMonitoring #WordPressSecurity

Backing up your site is good. Backing up your site in multiple places is better. It's time to talk about offsite vs onsite backups and why backing up your site is essential for every site. ✨Onsite backups✨ Most good hosting providers offer automatic and on-demand back-ups for their customers. These are great but are the bare minimum when it comes to supporting your site. These types of backups are what we like to call onsite backups. Your hosting provider offers them, and typically, these backups are stored on the same server your site lives on. They're convenient and great if an update breaks your site since most hosts offer easy restores from backups. You may have noticed we said onsite backups are the bare minimum; that was no mistake. Onsite backups are great, but some hosts only store backups for a couple of weeks. What happens if your host goes down altogether, and every minute your site is down is money lost? ✨Offsite backups✨ The unsung hero: offsite backups. Offsite backups are backups of your site stored on a server and service separate from your host. We can't stress how handy and essential offsite backups are, especially for your peace of mind. They can save your bacon in a crunch, like if you are, unfortunately, a victim of a host-wide outage. In a pinch, you can use offsite backups to restore your site quickly on another host or server not experiencing issues. Some services offering offsite backups offer way more than just a place to backup your site. With features like on-demand staging sites, firewalls, and activity logging, services offering offsite backups have made it clear that they offer way more than just a place to back up your site. We take supporting and protecting our client's sites seriously and, for that reason, we have multiple backup points onsite and offsite for all sites hosted with us. We've experienced firsthand how helpful backups are, and not a week goes by where we're not utilizing them for updating, troubleshooting, or restoring. If you want to ensure all your bases are covered, and your site is uber-protected, leave a comment below to learn about our maintenance and support plans. #wordpresssecurity #wordpressmaintenance #wordpressbestpractices #wordpress

Whether you're using Gutenberg blocks, a page builder, or adding CSS to your site, it's important to understand the different 📏 measurement units available and when to use them. There are two categories of units: absolute and relative. Absolute units are set lengths, such as inches, centimeters, or, more commonly for the web, pixels. Relative units specify a length relative to another property and are great when creating a responsive design that will look consistent across various devices and screen sizes. Let's breakdown some of the more popular or frequently used units: pixels (px)—A pixel is the most common absolute unit used for the web and offers fine-grained control. One pixel is equal to 1/96 of an inch. It's a great unit to user small fixed sizes like borders or icons. The jury is out on whether you should use px on text or not but it's a great option if you need to specify the size of something across all screen sizes and devices. percentage (%)—This is the first relative unit we'll discuss. Use the % unit when you want the element you're working with to be a certain percentage of the parent element it falls under. It's great for building layouts em—It can be a struggle to understand the em unit and also the rem unit below. 'em' is based on the font size of the parent element, which makes it useful for scaling things locally. So, if the parent’s font size is 16px, 1em is equal to 16px. Use em for flexible, localized adjustments rem—On the other hand, rem is based on the root element’s font size, providing consistent sizing across the entire page. The root element is usually the tag in an HTML document. Most browsers set the root to 16px, so 1rem always equals 16 pixels. Use rem for consistent, global sizing. Viewport Width (vw)—This unit represents a percentage of the width of the browser window. 1vw is equal to 1% of the browser's width. Use this unit to make elements responsive to the window's width. Viewport Height (vh)—The last unit we'll talk about, vh, is similar to vw but for height instead of width. VH represents a percentage of the height of the browser. 1vh is equal to 1% of the browser's height. Use this unit to make elements responsive to the window's height. CSS can be a lot to unpack and can be a bit of a learning curve for the regular WordPress user. If you're having trouble manipulating your site's CSS to get the aesthetics you're looking for, then drop a comment below. Our developers are masters at CSS and can make your dream a reality. #wordpressdesign #wordpress #csstricks

🔒 Your website’s security should be a top priority, but you don’t need to be a tech expert to put in place some extra protections. One simple yet powerful way to boost your site’s safety is by enabling two-factor authentication (2FA). It’s easy to set up and a smart move for anyone looking to strengthen their security. These days, several plugins give you flexibility on how to implement a 2FA policy for your site: ✅ Make it mandatory for all users or just some ✅ Use various authentication methods, including email, text messages, authenticator apps, hardware security tokens, and even biometrics. ✅ Recovery codes for when you need to log in but don't have access to your authentication method Learn more about why 2FA matters, how it works, and how you can add it to your site: https://hubs.li/Q02TwkVz0 #2fa #wordpress #wordpresssecurity

Is your website still using WordPress like it’s 2003? It’s time to step into the future of content creation! For years, the Classic WordPress Editor was our trusted companion—simple, familiar, and resembling the word processors we all know. When the Block Editor (also known as Gutenberg) arrived in 2018, it caught many off guard. Change can be tough, and it’s no surprise that over 10 million users still stick with the Classic Editor today. But here’s the thing: WordPress is evolving, and clinging to the old ways might be holding your website back. Why consider making the switch to the Block Editor? Let’s break it down: 🚀 A Modern User Interface: The Block Editor offers a fresh, intuitive way to build content. Think of it like digital building blocks—you can easily add, move, and style different elements without touching a single line of code. 🎨 Enhanced Customization: No more relying on multiple plugins or custom code for complex layouts. The Block Editor empowers you to create visually engaging pages with ease. 🔄 Future-Proof Your Website: Developers are focusing their innovations on the Block Editor. By making the switch, you’ll have access to the latest features and improvements. 💡 Unleash Your Creativity: Break free from the limitations of a continuous text block. With the Block Editor, your content can be as dynamic and engaging as your ideas. Yes, the Classic Editor feels comfortable—like a well-worn pair of shoes. But sometimes, stepping into something new can make all the difference. As a WordPress support agency, we’ve embraced the Block Editor and have helped many others do the same. We get it—change isn’t always easy, but we’re here to make the transition smooth and stress-free. Ready to give it a try? Experience the Block Editor firsthand with WordPress’s demo: https://hubs.li/Q02T7J3f0 Thinking about making the switch? Let’s chat! Comment below or reach out directly, and we’ll help you unlock the full potential of your website.