Web Hosting Session

WP IssuesPresented by:

Scott Hendison

SEO AutomaticSearch Commander, Inc.

About Me

• Began web hosting & selling software online in 1999, and began an SEO consulting agency in the spring of 2004.

• In 2007, I started SEO Automatic, a set of end user and white label tools for internet marketers.

• I‘ve been on this panel five times now, and it‘s hard to be original, which is why I decided to cover WP for the topic.

Performance & Security

• General WP tips

• Caching

• Compression

• Image Expires Header

• Images: Sprites

• Protecting Yourself

General WP tips

• Avoid too many plugins• Remove inactive plugins• Watch out for “bad” plugins• Watch database bloat• Page revisions can be deleted• Comment spam can be deleted• WP Plugin can help – WP Optimize

Database Bloat

Caching

Caching

• Google says Caching:– Most sites include resources that change

infrequently - CSS files, images, JavaScript etc. – Caching allows these resources to be saved,

or cached, by a browser or proxy. – Reduce round-trip time by eliminating

numerous HTTP requests for the required resources, and reduce the size of responses.

• WP Plugins: Several

Caching

Caching

Caching

Caching

Caching

Nice Caching Roundup at Tutorial9.net

Compression

Compression

• Google Says Compression – – HTTP compression is a capability that

can be built into web servers and web clients to make better use of available bandwidth, and provide faster transmission speeds between both.

• WP Plugins: Several

Compression

Compression

Compression

Compression

Compression

Test your compression rates and compare results at Whatismyip.org

Expires and Cache-Control

Expires and Cache-Control

• Google Says - Expires and Cache-Control: max-age– These specify the “freshness lifetime” of a

during which the browser can use the cached resource without checking to see if a new version is available. Once they're set and the resource is downloaded, the browser will not issue any GET requests for the resource until the expiry date or maximum age is reached.

• WP Plugins: Several

Expires and Cache-Control

• Do it with no plugin: tipsandtricks-hq.com

or

Image Sprites

Images: Sprites

• Google Says Images: Sprites– Combining images into as few files as

possible using CSS sprites reduces the number of round-trips and delays in downloading other resources, reduces request overhead, and can reduce the total number of bytes downloaded by a web page.

• WP Plugins: Csprites (out of date) but others are likely coming

Images: Sprites

Images: Sprites

CSS Thumbnail Sprites (at code.google.com)

Images: Sprites

W3 Total Cache – Feature coming... Soon?

Images: Sprites

Sprite Me – Not a plugin, but a process / tool

Protecting Yourself

What Good is Number 1?

(image example via seo.seocompany.ca)

Clicking anyway gives you this...

Think that’s a conversion killer?

WordPress is a Target

• Over 11% of all sites on the internet are WordPress, and more than half of new sites created daily are WP sites. (source WordCamp SF 2011)

• A typical shared webhost can have dozens or hundreds of sites on your server, affecting your performance, your security, and… your SEO.

• Some ISP’s (like Comcast) have begun blocking entire servers, rather than risk user infections.

Web Hosts Are Getting Restrictive

• Some WP plugins have vulnerabilities• Many plugins are poorly written• ANYONE can submit a plugin to WP• There are standards, but plugins submitted

to WP are NOT screened for compliance• It takes complaints FIRST, to get any action• Some plugins can put other accounts at

risk, so some hosts are starting to restrict plugins

Web Hosts Are Getting Restrictive

• Lists over 70 plugins that they don‘t alllow on their servers, and I‘ll BET you‘re using many of them!

• I know I am

Protecting Yourself

• Lots of security best practices out there, and this is not the time or place to go into details.

• However, the most important thing I can think of is to monitor what changes on your domain.

• There’s a plugin for that (surprise)

Protecting Yourself

To Sum Up…

• Performance can affect your SEO

• Poor security can negate good SEO

• Know your webhosts policies

• Consider moving from shared hosting

• Know your plugins

• Monitor what changes

Thank You

Scott Hendisonscott@searchcommander.com