If you suspect your website or hosting account was compromised, you must act quickly to mitigate potential damage. The longer you wait, the worse things will become. You could even be on the hook for liability lawsuits.

Follow the steps below to regain control and secure your website.

Change All Passwords

The first step when compromise is suspected is changing ALL passwords.

Depending on your configuration, the password reset process may involve updating FTP/SFTP passwords, Database Users, Website Logins, Email Accounts, and anything else associated with your website.

Fixing a breach will mean nothing if the individual still has all your passwords.

Use strong, unique passwords for each account, and ensure you do NOT reuse any previously used passwords, as once a password is compromised, it will remain compromised indefinitely and cannot be reused, even on another service.

If you’re not sure how to make a password stronger, feel free to use our password generator. In a single click, it will generate a password that is more difficult to crack.

Scan Your Local Devices for Malware:

Run thorough antivirus and malware scans on all devices you use to access your website or hosting account. Remove any detected threats promptly to prevent re-infection.

Password-based compromises are often the result of malware on your PC or other device that sniffs your password.

Review Website Files

Check all files and directories on your website for any unauthorized modifications, unfamiliar files, or suspicious code injections.

When a website is compromised, malicious files are often created or modified at approximately the same time. After a malicious file is found, searching for other files modified around the same time may identify additional malicious files.

If you’re using WordPress, the Wordfence security plugin constantly scans your files and keeps you apprised of any changes. The best part is that it’s free to use, though, it does have some great features if you upgrade.

Restore Clean Backups

Once you have confirmed that your website is compromised, restoring a known clean backup is the most effective way to remove the malware.

If you need assistance restoring a backup or don’t have a known clean backup, GreenGeeks takes regular server-side backups and offers one free restore from the server-side backups per month.

If you’re using WordPress, it’s probably a good idea to install a backup plugin. A lot of these will create backups automatically while storing them on separate servers, such as Dropbox or OneDrive.

Update Website Components

Outdated software is often vulnerable to exploitation of known vectors by attackers, such as out-of-date coding or components.

To prevent attacks against known security vulnerabilities, ensure that all website components for your website CMS are up-to-date with the latest security patches, including Themes, Plugins, or other Extensions.

Enabling Automatic updates for all components will ensure you’re always using the most up-to-date software versions for your website, minimizing the risk of compromise.

Monitor Website Activity

Implement website activity monitoring tools or security plugins to track unauthorized access attempts, file modifications, or suspicious behavior. Regularly review access logs for any anomalies.

For WordPress, GreenGeeks recommends WP Cerber to help provide enhanced security measures and strengthen your website installation overall.

Implement Additional Security Measures

Enhance your website’s security by implementing additional measures such as two-factor authentication and regular security audits.

GreenGeeks offers 2FA for both the GreenGeeks Dashboard and Hosting Account to secure your account.

WordPress and other CMS applications offer 2FA plugins and extensions; the exact steps will vary depending on your website’s platform. Nonetheless, there are plenty of plugins available, so pick one that best suits your needs.

If you require assistance implementing 2FA within your GreenGeeks Dashboard or Hosting Account, the GreenGeeks Support Team will assist you.

Communicate with Your Users

If your website collects user data or provides services to customers, inform them about the security incident, the actions you’ve taken to address it, and any steps they should take to secure their accounts.

Each State/Country has different disclosure requirements for a cyber security breach, and you must follow any specific notification requirements for your state or jurisdiction.

For the United States of America, refer to the National Association of Attorneys General & National Conference of State Legislatures for data breach guidelines. Note that these are general guidelines and you’ll need to consult with legal counsel for specific guidance on reporting requirements.

WordPress Admin Checks

A commonly overlooked problem is when hackers or malicious code injects a new admin or user into your website without your knowledge. This can give someone backend control of your site who can quickly undo any fixes you may have implemented.

Check your user list in WordPress to ensure no new admins or other users were added. Even if WordPress gives these unknowns “Subscriber” status (the lowest privilege in WordPress), it’s better to delete them immediately.

Conclusion

By following the above steps promptly and thoroughly, you can restore your website to working order and minimize the potential for your website to be compromised going forward.

Note that GreenGeeks may require additional actions to secure your account to guarantee the integrity of the server.

If you have any questions about how to apply one or more steps to your GreenGeeks hosting account, the GreenGeeks Support Team will be happy to assist you from your GreenGeeks Dashboard.

The post What to Do After Your Website or Web Hosting Is Compromised appeared first on GreenGeeks.

While the idea of creating a blog site sounds like a thrilling adventure, many new bloggers are stuck with picking the right platform, dealing with technical stuff, making interesting posts, and getting people to read their content.

These hurdles are common, and they can stop many from starting or continuing their blogging endeavors.

But don’t worry, with the right guide, blogging can be a fun journey. In fact, blogging can lead to sharing your thoughts, meeting new people, and even making some money.

This guide is here to make blogging for beginners simple. We’ll break down each step and give practical tips to make the task of blogging easy and fun.

Ultimately, we aim to give you a clear path to not just start a blog, but create one that connects with readers and stands out online.

Understanding the Basics of Blogging

Let’s begin this guide by understanding some basic terms. A blog is a website where individuals or groups can share their thoughts, insights, and experiences on various topics in an informal or conversational style.

Blogs often include text, images, videos, and links to other relevant content. Over time, blogs have evolved to cover a wide range of topics, and they can be personal, professional, or focused on a particular subject matter or industry.

Basic terms for understanding blogging include:

• Hosting: Web hosting is a service that stores your website files on a server, making your site accessible on the internet. It’s crucial for making your website available to users anytime.
• Domain: A domain is a unique address where people can find your website on the internet.
• CMS (Content Management System): A CMS is software that helps create, manage, and modify website content without needing technical skills. Examples include WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): SEO is the practice of improving a website to increase its visibility in search engine results.

As you proceed with the article, you’ll learn more about each of these terms and how they’re related to start building a successful blog.

Overview of Blogging Platforms

In blogging, choosing the right platform is crucial as it forms the base where your content will live. Let’s explore some popular blogging platforms below:

WordPress

WordPress is a simple yet highly efficient platform for blogging. It’s used by many people online, from personal bloggers to big companies. In fact, WordPress currently powers more than 43% of all websites on the Internet.

As time went by, WordPress grew from a basic blogging tool to a system that can manage different types of websites, like online shops. Because it’s open source, many people, like designers and developers, contribute by creating themes and plugins for others to use.

There are two types of WordPress: WordPress.com, which is hosted and easy to set up, and WordPress.org, which you host yourself and can customize further.

Benefits of WordPress:

• WordPress has many themes, plugins, and extensions that let you make your blog look and work the way you want
• It’s easy to use, so you don’t need to know a lot about technology to create and manage your content
• Since it’s open source, you can change things around to suit your needs

Drawback of WordPress:

• If you want to do more complex customizations, you might need some coding knowledge which can be tough for beginners

Blogger

Blogger is a platform owned by Google to make blogging straightforward.

It’s easy to use and connects well with other Google services, which is handy if you use Google a lot. Setting up a blog is easy and quick with Blogger.

While it doesn’t have as many customization options as WordPress, Blogger is reliable and simple for those who just want to write and share their thoughts online. Its simple style makes it easy for new bloggers to start writing and sharing right away.

Benefits of Blogger:

• Since it’s owned by Google, it works well with other Google products
• It’s very beginner-friendly
• Blogger gives free and dependable hosting which keeps your blog online

Drawback of Blogger:

• It has older designs and doesn’t let you customize things as much as WordPress does

Medium

Medium is a cool mix of a traditional blog and a social network. It helps writers share their work with a ready audience, saving them from the trouble of building and promoting a website from the start.

This platform loves high-quality writing. It lets you share stories, ideas, and more on many different topics. Plus, with Medium’s Partner Program, writers can earn money when people engage with their work.

Benefits of Medium:

• With its large community, writers can reach many readers from the start
• It has a simple, clean design that makes reading enjoyable
• It’s easy to use, so it’s a good place for beginners

Drawback of Medium:

• Unlike WordPress, Medium doesn’t offer much room to change things up and you can’t use your own domain name

How to Start a Blog the Right Way

Step 1: Planning Your Blog

Planning is a big step towards a successful blog. It helps set a strong base for your blog to grow.

Part of the planning process on your blog site is choosing your niche, setting clear goals, and identifying your target audience.

How To Choose Your Blog Niche

A niche is a specific topic or area that you will focus on. This is important because it decides what you will write about and who your readers will be.

Taking time to choose the right niche can help make your blogging journey enjoyable and rewarding.

So, how do you go about deciding on a good niche?

Identify Interests and Skills

Start by figuring out what you’re good at and what you enjoy. There are many online tools to help find your strengths. Also, make a list of topics or activities you like or know a lot about. This way, you’re more likely to enjoy blogging.

You can also think about your hobbies or past experiences. They could be a rich source of ideas for your blog. Reflecting on these can help find a niche that will drive your success forward.

Research Market Demand

It’s important to pick a niche people are interested in. Use keyword research tools like Semrush and Ahrefs to see how many people search for topics you’re considering. This gives an idea of how popular those topics are.

Additionally, look at other blogs in niches you’re considering. See what topics they cover. Finding topics they haven’t covered much could be a chance for your blog to stand out.

Checking out the competition helps to understand the market and find a unique angle for your blog.

Setting Clear Goals

Goals provide a roadmap and a sense of direction that will keep you focused and motivated throughout your blogging journey. They allow you to measure your progress, understand what’s working, and make informed decisions to steer your blog toward success.

Here are some ways to set effective goals for your blog.

Define Short-term and Long-term Goals

Short-term Goals:

These are goals you aim to achieve in the near future, maybe in the next three to six months. Examples include reaching a certain number of subscribers, publishing a set number of posts, or getting a specified number of shares or comments.

Short-term goals help maintain momentum and provide early wins to keep you motivated.

Long-term Goals:

Long-term goals are your broader objectives that may take a year or more to achieve. They could be related to monetization, traffic milestones, or building a strong community around your blog.

Long-term goals give you a bigger picture and a long-term vision for what you want to achieve.

SMART Goals Framework

Utilizing the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals framework can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your goals.

• Specific: Your goals should be clear and specific. Instead of saying “I want more subscribers,” say “I want to reach 1,000 subscribers.”
• Measurable: You should be able to measure the progress and success of your goals. For instance, tracking the number of subscribers or the amount of traffic your blog receives.
• Achievable: Make sure your goals are realistic and achievable with the resources available to you.
• Relevant: Your goals should be relevant to the overall objective of your blog.
• Time-bound: Set a deadline for your goals. Having a timeframe creates a sense of urgency and keeps you on track.

Establishing a Timeline and Milestones

Creating a timeline with milestones for each goal can provide a structured approach to achieving your objectives.

A timeline breaks down your goals into smaller tasks and allocates a timeframe for each one.

Milestones, on the other hand, set significant points along the way to track your progress. Celebrating these milestones can provide motivation and a sense of accomplishment.

Identifying Target Audience

Identifying who your blog speaks to is a crucial step when you decide to start a blog.

One way to do this is by creating audience personas. These are imaginary profiles of your ideal readers based on real data and educated guesses.

It’s also important to know the problems or desires your audience has. This insight will guide what you write about on your blog. You want to write posts that solve their problems or help them achieve their goals.

Another way to understand your audience is by asking them directly. You can create simple surveys or questionnaires and share them online.

Ask about their challenges, interests, and the kind of content they find useful. This interaction not only gives you useful information but also starts building a relationship with your audience.

Step 2: Setting Up Your Blog

Domain Name Selection and Registration

Now that you’ve planned and envisioned what your blog will be all about at the start, it’s time to pick and register a domain name for it. Your domain name is your online address, making it easy for people to find you.

Let’s go over how to choose and register a domain name.

1. Create a Unique and Memorable Domain

A catchy domain name is important. It’s the first thing people see, and it helps them remember your blog. A short, snappy domain name can make your blog look professional and easy to find again.

For instance, let’s say you are starting a blog about home baking. A domain name like “BakingDelights.com” is catchy, easy to remember, and clearly tells what your blog is about.

It’s better than a long, confusing domain like “BakingAtHomeForBeginners123.com.”

2. Check Domain Availability

Before you get your heart set on a domain name, check if it’s available. There are many online tools like GoDaddy or Namecheap for this. As a general rule, it’s good to think of a few different names in case your first choice is taken.

3. Register the Domain

Once you find a domain name you like, and it’s available, you can register it easily online. You can do this by either using a domain registrar or though a web hosting provide, which I’ll cover in a moment.

The benefit to using a web host to register your domain name is that it helps you keep things organized by using one company.

When registering the domain, you will also need to choose a domain extension. These extensions are the endings like .com, .blog, or .net. The most common is .com, but others might fit your blog better.

For example, .blog is great for bloggers, and .net is good for tech-related blogs. But, .com is often seen as the most professional and easiest to remember.

Choosing a Hosting Provider

After deciding on a domain name, the next pivotal step to start your blog is choosing a hosting provider. A hosting provider is where your blog will “live” online; it’s a service that stores your blog data and makes it accessible on the internet.

Let’s discuss the different types of hosting, factors to consider in selecting a hosting provider, and some recommendations.

Types of Hosting

There are three main kinds of hosting:

• Shared Hosting: Your blog shares space with other websites on a server. It’s the cheapest option but can be slow, especially if other sites on the server get a lot of visitors.

• VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting: VPS hosting provides you with a virtual dedicated segment of a physical server. This option offers better speed and reliability compared to shared hosting, without the cost of a dedicated server.

• Dedicated Hosting: This type offers a server all to yourself, providing the highest level of resource allocation, privacy, and control. However, it’s the most expensive and is often overkill for new or smaller blogs.

Key Factors to Consider for a Hosting Provider

When choosing a hosting provider, consider the following key factors:

• Speed: The speed at which your blog loads is crucial for user experience and SEO. Look for hosting providers that offer fast server speeds.
• Uptime: Uptime is the amount of time your blog is accessible online. Aim for hosting providers with an uptime of 99.9% or higher.
• Support: Excellent customer support can be a lifesaver when facing technical issues. Look for providers with strong customer reviews regarding their support and 24/7 availability.

How To Install WordPress

Getting the right blogging software is the next big step in your journey to start a blog. Among the various blogging platforms available, WordPress stands out due to its ease of use, flexibility, and vast community of users and developers.

Installing WordPress is straightforward, and many hosting providers offer one-click WordPress installations. Here’s a simplified guide to get WordPress up and running:

1. Select a Hosting Provider: Choose a hosting provider that supports WordPress.
2. Domain Name: Have your domain name registered and ready, or obtain one through your web hosting provider.
3. Install WordPress:
   • Log into your hosting account.
   • locate the WordPress or website/script installer section.
   • Click on the WordPress icon and follow the on-screen instructions.
   • Fill in the necessary details like your site name, admin username, and password.
   • Click Install, and within a few minutes, WordPress should be installed on your domain.

Once installed, you can log in to your WordPress dashboard using the credentials you set during installation. From here, you can start customizing your blog, choosing themes, and writing your first post.

Step 3: Designing Your Blog

Designing is a fun and critical step when you decide to start a blog. It’s about picking a style that reflects you and keeps your readers comfortable. A big part of this process is choosing a theme.

In web designing, a theme refers to a set of design elements and templates that define the appearance and layout of the site.

It includes aspects like color schemes, font styles, page layouts, and graphical elements that together create a particular look and feel for the website.

How to Choose a Theme

1. Free vs Premium Theme

When it comes to themes, you have two main choices: free or premium.

Free themes are great if you’re on a budget. They come with a simple design which can be nice for a clean look. However, they might not have all the bells and whistles of premium themes and you might have to rely on community forums for help.

On the other hand, premium themes do cost money, but usually, it’s a one-time fee. They come with more features and ways to make the theme your own. They often look more polished and you get help and updates from the theme developers, which can be a big help.

2. Responsive Design

Many people will visit your blog from their phones, so you need a responsive design. This makes sure your blog looks good on phones, tablets, and computers.

It’s important to pick a theme that works well on mobile to give your readers a good experience no matter how they visit your blog. Try the theme on different devices to make sure it looks good on all of them.

3. Theme Customization Options

Being able to change things up is key to making a blog that feels like yours. Look for themes that let you customize elements of your website easily. It’s also fun to play with colors and fonts to match your style.

And don’t forget to make sure the theme works with any plugins you want to use. This will help avoid any headaches later on.

Customizing Design Elements

After selecting a theme for your blog, the next step in crafting a visually appealing and user-friendly site is customizing various design elements. This is where you can inject your personality and brand identity into your blog.

Logo and Branding

Your logo is often the first thing people notice when they land on your blog. It’s a visual representation of who you are and what your blog is about.

A well-designed logo can help establish credibility and foster brand recognition. If you’re not a designer, consider hiring a professional or using logo design tools available online. Your logo should be simple, memorable, and reflective of your blog’s content and ethos.

Color Scheme and Typography

Colors evoke emotions and reactions. Choose a color palette that resonates with your blog’s tone and audience. Make use of online color palette tools to create a harmonious color scheme.

The right fonts also contribute to the readability and visual appeal of your blog. Choose fonts that are easy to read and pair well together. It’s also best to keep font usage consistent across your blog.

Layout and Navigation

Your website’s layout should be clean, with a clear distinction between different sections like the header, content area, sidebar, and footer.

A simple, intuitive navigation menu helps readers find what they’re looking for quickly. Include essential pages like Home, About, Blog, and Contact in the main navigation menu of your site.

Step 4: Creating Quality Content

Creating good content at the start is the heart of a successful blog. It’s what makes readers come back for more. When you start a blog, having a solid plan for your content is key.

Content Planning and Strategy

To effectively plan your blog content, here are some steps that you must consider doing.

1. Content Calendar Creation

A smart content strategy is like your roadmap in the blogging journey. It helps you stay organized, keep a regular posting schedule, and make sure your content meets your goals.

The first step here is creating a content calendar. This proactive step gives you a well-planned lineup of content, helps you decide how often to post, plans for seasonal or trending topics in advance, and keeps track of deadlines for drafting, revising, and publishing content.

Project management tools like Jira, Trello, or Google Calendar can be used for this, and it’s good to choose one that fits your workflow well.

You can also use various plugins in WordPress to keep the publishing calendar in front of you in the admin panel.

2. Identifying Key Topics and Categories

Next up, finding the key topics and categories when you start your blog is a basic step toward building a structured website. It involves tuning into what your audience is interested in, picking topics that match your expertise and interests, and staying updated with the latest trends in your niche.

The categories on your blog should cover a range of your key topics that will offer a well-rounded range of content to your readers.

3. Research and Preparation

Diving deep into each topic to gather facts, statistics, and useful information is essential for high-quality content.

At the same time, doing keyword research to find SEO-friendly keywords and phrases, and checking out competitors to learn from what they’re doing right or wrong are smart moves.

This research phase is a great chance to collect all the useful insights and information needed to create engaging, informative posts.

Writing Engaging and Informative Posts

Creating a blog that captivates and educates your readers is a blend of art and science. Your posts need to be engaging yet informative, guiding your readers through an experience that leaves them enlightened and craving for more.

With that in mind, below are practical tips on how to start writing your blog content effectively.

1. Create Captivating Headlines

The headline is the doorway to your content. It’s the first thing readers see, and it can make or break their decision to read further. Crafting a headline that is both enticing and informative is crucial.

Here are some pointers that you should take note of when creating headlines:

• Use Strong Language: Employ powerful and emotional words to evoke curiosity and interest.
• Be Clear and Precise: Your headline should give a clear idea of what the post is about. Avoid being vague or misleading.
• Use Numbers and How-To: Headlines with numbers (e.g., “5 Ways to…”) or how-to are proven to attract more clicks.
• SEO Consideration: Incorporate relevant keywords in your headlines to improve search engine rankings.

A great headline creator tool is Headline Studio by CoSchedule. This web-based app will analyze your headline and deliver a “score” to show how effective it will be for your readers. The free version is nice, but you’ll get far more tools by paying for the premium service.

2. Balance Information with Engagement

Mixing useful information with a fun reading experience is a technique that can really make your blog posts engaging.

When people visit your blog, they are usually looking for answers or new knowledge. So, it’s key to have posts that are packed with useful insights or solutions to their problems.

But, you also want to keep them hooked. A friendly tone, sharing personal stories, and asking questions can help make a stronger bond with your readers.

3. Utilize Images and Multimedia

Blogging isn’t just about writing. Adding pictures, videos, or infographics can break up long text and help explain tricky ideas. It also keeps your readers interested because the human brain is more receptive to visuals than just plain text.

Now, where do you get good, royalty-free pictures? You can find a lot of them on websites like Unsplash or Pixabay. Just make sure they are free to use or have the right licenses to avoid any trouble.

Or, you can also create your own graphics using tools like Canva or Adobe Spark.

Videos can take your blog to the next level. They can help explain hard topics, show off products, or share personal stories. YouTube is a good place to host your videos, and then you can easily add them to your blog posts.

And if you like making podcasts or audio content, adding these to your blog posts can give your readers a richer experience. You can also add fun interactive stuff like quizzes, polls, or interactive infographics to make your blog more lively and engaging.

4. Edit and Proofread

Proofreading is where you check if your post is clear and flows well, going smoothly from one idea to the next. It’s the last step to fine-tune your words, fix the structure, and make sure your post says what you intended in the right tone.

Checking grammar and spelling is very important; tools like Grammarly can help catch errors you might have missed. You could go so far as to install the free Grammarly Chrome extension, which works perfectly in WordPress.

Reading your post out loud can also help find awkward parts and see where punctuation might be needed. Sometimes, a part that reads well in your head might sound odd out loud.

It’s also a good idea to have someone else read your post. Fresh eyes can see new things and catch mistakes you might have missed.

Step 5: Implement SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a critical aspect of online visibility for any blogger aiming to reach a wider audience. If you want to build a successful blog from the start, you’ll need to understand SEO.

After all, what purpose is having high-quality content on your blog site if people can’t easily search for it?

How Search Engines Work

Understanding how search engines work is key to boosting your SEO efforts. The three main steps are crawling, indexing, and ranking. Let’s break these down into simpler terms.

First up is crawling. Imagine search engines have little robots that go around the web looking for new or updated content. These robots, called crawlers or spiders, move from page to page, collecting data. They’re like scouts exploring the digital world.

Once the crawlers find the data, the next step, indexing, begins. All the collected data gets organized and stored, ready to be pulled up when needed. This step helps search engines quickly find the information when someone looks for it.

The last step is ranking. When you look for something on a search engine, it looks through all the indexed info to find what matches your search the best. It then shows you a list of results, with the most relevant ones at the top.

The order of these results is determined by many factors that we will be discussing further below.

Core SEO Principles

Having a grasp of core SEO principles is crucial in creating a solid foundation for your blog’s online presence.

Let’s discuss the major factors that determine whether your blog will rank up the search engine ladder.

Keyword Research

Identifying and integrating relevant keywords into your blog is a must. It’s about understanding the terms your potential readers use to search for the content you provide.

On-Page Optimization

This involves optimizing elements like titles, meta descriptions, and content structure to make your blog search-engine friendly.

Off-Page Optimization

Off-page SEO encompasses actions taken outside of your blog like building backlinks, which signal to search engines the quality and relevance of your content.

Technical SEO

Ensuring your blog is technically sound, with a fast loading speed, mobile responsiveness, and a secure connection, forms the bedrock of SEO.

By optimizing your blog for search engines, you significantly enhance its visibility and, by extension, its ability to attract a larger audience. In short, investing in SEO early on will pave the way to your blog’s future success.

Keyword Research and Optimization

Keyword research is a major task when you plan to start a blog. Let’s go through the steps on how to do it right.

1. Finding the Right Keywords

The first step in keyword research is identifying the right keywords – words or phrases that people use in search engines to find content.

Begin by brainstorming keywords related to your blog’s topic. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find keyword suggestions and view data on search volume and competition.

It’s advisable to target keywords with a decent search volume but lower competition, especially when you’re just starting out.

Understanding the intent behind keywords is also crucial; it helps ensure that your content matches what users are looking for.

2. Keyword Placement Strategies

Once you have a list of keywords, the next step is to strategically place them in your content. Here are some effective keyword placement strategies:

• Title Tag: Include your main keyword in the title of your blog post.
• Headings and Subheadings: Use keywords in headings and subheadings to emphasize the importance to search engines.
• Introductory Paragraph: Include keywords naturally in the first few sentences of your content.
• Body Text: Sprinkle keywords throughout the body text, but avoid keyword stuffing. Aim for a natural flow.
• URL: Incorporate the main keyword in the URL of your page.
• Meta Description: Include keywords in the meta description to improve click-through rates from search results.

3. Long-tail Keywords and Their Importance

Long-tail keywords are phrases that are longer and more specific than common, high-search volume keywords. They often have lower search volume but higher conversion rates due to their specificity.

For example, “how to start a blog on WordPress for gaming” is a long-tail keyword. In this case, the focus is on “starting a blog” using “WordPress” for a “gaming” niche.

Moreover, long-tail keywords help in attracting a more targeted audience who are likely closer to the point of making a decision or taking action.

Incorporating long-tail keywords in your content strategy can significantly impact your blog’s traffic and engagement levels. By focusing on a mix of broad and long-tail keywords, you create a balanced keyword strategy that drives both traffic and conversions.

Off-Page SEO Strategies

Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your blog to boost its rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).

This aspect of SEO is crucial as it informs search engines on how the world perceives your blog. Below are some strategies that you can implement in your blog.

Backlinking and Guest Posting

Backlinking is the practice of obtaining links from other websites that point back to your blog. Each backlink acts as a vote of confidence, signaling to search engines that your content is valuable and worthy of ranking higher on SERPs.

Guest Posting is another effective off-page SEO tactic. By writing quality posts for reputable blogs within your niche, you can reach a wider audience, establish authority, and earn backlinks to your blog.

To build a robust backlink profile, you could reach out to bloggers within your niche and request guest post opportunities or offer valuable insights in blog comments, which may sometimes allow you to leave a link back to your blog.

Local SEO

Local SEO is particularly crucial for blogs that cater to a local audience. Listing your blog on local directories and engaging in local online communities can help improve your blog’s visibility in local search results.

Step 6: Promoting Your Blog

Promoting your blog helps it grow and become influential in your niche by reaching more readers. It also engages your audience, builds your expertise, and encourages important conversations.

Plus, it’s a key step in making money from your blog or using it to market products or services.

Social Media Marketing

Social media is a powerhouse for promotion. Here are steps that you can take to utilize social media to promote your blog at the start.

1. Start by creating profiles on major platforms. Each platform can be distinctly utilized to promote your blog accordingly.

• Facebook: Share or start a blog post on your personal profile, business page, or in relevant Facebook groups related to your blog’s niche.
• Twitter: Tweet links to your blog posts and use relevant hashtags to reach a broader audience.
• Instagram: Share visually appealing snippets of your blog content in your posts and stories, with a link to the full post in your bio.
• LinkedIn: Publish articles on LinkedIn’s platform, and share your blog posts in your feed and relevant LinkedIn groups.
• Pinterest: Create pins for your blog posts with eye-catching graphics and descriptions. Pinterest is especially effective for visual or lifestyle blogs.
• Quora: Answer questions related to your blog’s topic and include links to relevant blog posts when they provide additional value.

2. Share your content regularly on these platforms. When you publish a new blog post, make sure to share it on your social media profiles. This keeps your audience informed about your latest insights.

3. Engage with your followers. Respond to comments, answer questions, and foster conversations. It’s a great way to build a community around your blog.

4. Don’t forget to utilize hashtags and trends. Incorporating relevant hashtags into your posts can make your content more discoverable. Follow trends in your niche and participate in conversations to boost your blog’s visibility.

Email Marketing

Email marketing helps promote your blog by creating a dedicated list of readers who want to hear from you. You can then send your newest content directly to their email inboxes, making it easier for people to find and read your blog posts. 

Building an Email List

Creating an email list to promote a blog involves these key steps:

1. Create a Signup Form: Design an attractive signup form that’s easy to find and use on your blog.
2. Offer Incentives: Giving subscribers bonuses, like special content or discounts, can really help you get more people to sign up.
3. Quality Content: Always post interesting, high-quality blog posts to get new readers and keep the ones who might subscribe.
4. Social Media Promotion: Use your social media presence to promote your email list and reach a broader audience.
5. Networking and Collaboration: Reaching out with others in your niche can help you tap into new subscriber pools.
6. Run Contests and Giveaways: Hosting contests and giveaways with a subscription requirement can rapidly grow your list.

Utilizing Automation Tools

After fine-tuning your email marketing, it is important to utilize automation tools to streamline the process. Opt for tools that help you segment your list, set up drip campaigns for automated follow-ups, and personalize emails with recipient details.

Some tools that you can use to start your newsletters and email marketing for your blog include:

1. ConvertKit: Considered the most blogger-friendly with tailored features for content creators.

2. Mailchimp: User-friendly and widely adopted, suitable if you want to start a blog and if you’re looking for a straightforward solution.

3. AWeber: Well-regarded among bloggers, particularly those seeking a robust email marketing platform.

4. Brevo: Known for its affordability and basic email marketing features, suitable for small bloggers.

5. Constant Contact: Simple and beginner-friendly, good for bloggers looking for a straightforward email marketing tool.

Guest Blogging and Networking

Promoting your blog is an important step to start building an audience and establishing a presence within your niche. One effective way to achieve this is through guest blogging and networking.

Let’s dive into the steps involved in this process:

1. Identify Reputable Blogs in Your Niche

Start by researching and identifying reputable blogs within your niche. Look for blogs that have a significant following, active engagement, and content that aligns with your own blog’s focus.

Utilize tools like BuzzSumo or SEMrush to find blogs with high domain authority and a strong readership. Also, consider checking out social media platforms and online communities related to your niche to discover popular blogs.

2. Create Guest Post Pitches

Once you have a list of potential blogs, it’s time to craft your guest post pitches. Your pitch should be concise, personalized, and clearly outline the value you can provide to the blog owner’s audience.

Propose a few topic ideas that align with their blog’s content and provide a brief outline of what you plan to cover. It’s also a good practice to familiarize yourself with their guest post guidelines, if available, and adhere to them while crafting your pitch.

3. Build Relationships with Other Bloggers

Guest blogging is not just about gaining exposure; it’s an opportunity to build lasting relationships with other bloggers in your niche. Engage with them on social media, comment on their posts, and share their content.

Over time, these relationships can lead to collaboration opportunities, referrals, and a stronger online presence for your blog.

4. Participate in Community Events and Forums

Engaging in community events and forums related to your niche is another excellent way to network and promote your blog. Participate in discussions, offer valuable insights, and help solve problems faced by community members.

This not only helps in building relationships but also positions you as an authority in your niche. When appropriate, you can share links to relevant posts on your blog to provide further information.

Remember, the goal is to add value, not to spam these platforms with your links.

Step 7: Monitoring and Analyzing Your Blog Performance

Once your blog has been set up, it’s important to keep an eye on and analyze its performance. Doing so tells you which parts of your content your readers like and which ones need some tweaking.

Here are three steps to properly monitor and analyze your blog. 

1. Setting Up Analytics Tools

Setting up analytical tools should be a priority as you start a blog. The data these tools collect can be instrumental in how you publish future content.

Each analytics tool may have specific setup instructions, so following their guidelines for accurate data collection and analysis is essential.

Installing Google Analytics is a great starting point for doing so. It’s user-friendly and provides a wealth of data that’s vital on how to make a blog stand out. 

Creating an account and adding a tracking code to your blog is usually a straightforward process. Once in place, it quietly collects data about your blog’s visitors.

Understanding Key Metrics

Here are some of the most important metrics to monitor on your website:

• Page Views indicate how many times your blog posts have been viewed.
• Unique Visitors show how many distinct individuals have visited your blog.
• Bounce Rate reveals the percentage of visitors who leave your blog after viewing only one page.
• Conversion Rate helps evaluate the effectiveness of your calls to action.
• Traffic Sources help you determine where your traffic comes from.
• Top Pages/Posts allow you to understand what resonates with your audience and how to make a blog post in a similar vein.
• Time on Page: Longer page stays indicate strong engagement as visitors read and engage with your content.

2. Evaluating Your Traffic and Engagement Metrics

When you understand where your visitors are from and how they like your content, you can use this information to make data-driven decisions. This helps you create content that’s not only more exciting but also more helpful for your visitors.

Analyzing Traffic Sources

Analysis of traffic sources shows where your blog’s visitors come from, such as search engines, social media, or other websites. Knowing this lets you focus on the best places and tailor your content and promotion to them.

Identifying Top-Performing Content

You can identify top-performing content by analyzing page views, comments, and shares.

What topics resonate most with your audience? Capitalize on these insights by creating similar content that caters to your readers’ interests.

3. Adjusting Strategies Based on Analysis

You can improve your content and promotion strategies by reviewing them on a regular basis to see what’s working and what’s not.

Identifying Areas for Improvement

To find ways to make a blog better, you need to take a close look at different factors:

• Content Quality: Is your content interesting, relevant, and of high quality? 
• User Engagement: What about the time on the page, click-through rates, and bounce rates?
• Keyword Optimization: Are you checking how well your blog is doing with SEO to improve keyword targeting and ranking?
• Conversion Rate: Does your blog have specific goals? Can you optimize pages and elements to improve conversion rates?
• Design and User Experience: Do you have a user-friendly layout and intuitive navigation?
• Mobile Optimization: Is your blog easy for people on mobile devices to find and use?

A/B Testing

Often referred to as split testing, A/B Testing is a method of comparing two versions of a web page, email, or piece of content to determine which one performs better.

It’s an effective process when you start a blog. It’ll help outline what methods work best when you’re unsure how your audience will respond.

For example, you could use A/B testing to compare two different headlines on a blog post to see which one encourages more readers to click and read the content. Or you could test variations of a call-to-action button to determine which one results in more conversions.

Updating SEO and Promotion Strategies

As search engines update their algorithms, content trends and audience behavior change. Keeping your SEO and promotion strategies current will help your blog stay visible to search engines, reach its target audience, and adapt to the ever-changing online environment.

This proactive approach is necessary to keep your blog’s performance and relevance high and to make it even better over time.

Updating the SEO and marketing strategies for your blog includes the steps below:

1. Staying up-to-date with relevant keywords is important to rank well in search results and reach your target audience effectively.
2. Building and maintaining high-quality backlinks is essential for boosting your blog’s authority and search engine rankings.
3. Continuously improving and updating your content ensures it remains valuable, relevant, and engaging to your readers.
4. Keeping your on-page SEO elements, such as titles, meta descriptions, and headers, current and aligned with best practices enhances your blog’s search engine visibility.

Expanding your content promotion efforts ensures that your content reaches a wider audience and maintains its relevance.

Step 8: Monetizing Your Blog

When you start a blog and share your ideas, it can be exciting. But turning it into a money-making venture takes time. Once you’ve created great content and promoted your blog, the good news is making money from it comes next.

Blogs have the potential to be profitable but don’t expect instant riches. It often takes six months to a year to see a significant stream of income out of your site.

Blogging for beginners requires hard work and dedication, but as your audience grows, you can explore multiple ways to monetize your blog.

One common method is advertising. This is like having billboards on your blog where companies pay you to display their ads. It’s a steady source of income as long as your blog gets traffic.

Sponsored posts are another option. In this approach, you are getting paid to post an article on your blog site about a product or service.

Donations and crowdfunding are also viable. Think of it as your blog’s tip jar. Some readers might appreciate your content so much that they’re willing to donate or support your work through various platforms.

Affiliate Marketing

Another way to monetize your blog is through affiliate marketing. It’s a method where you promote products or services on your blog from external companies.

This method may be similar to a sponsored post, but they are two different things. With sponsored posts, you usually receive a fixed and upfront fee from brands for your posts.

Affiliate marketing, on the other hand, includes unique affiliate links in your content. When your audience clicks on these links and makes a purchase, you earn a commission, which is typically a percentage of the sale or a fixed amount.

Here’s how it works:

1. Selecting Affiliate Programs

You can partner with companies through affiliate programs. There is no restriction on how many programs you can join.

Once you’ve become part of their program, affiliate links that are unique to you will be provided. Then, these links are used to track the traffic and sales generated through your promotion.

2. Promoting Affiliate Products

With your unique affiliate links, you can now start writing about the company’s goods and services on your blog. One way to do this is to review and recommend products, or you can add affiliate banners and links to your content.

Don’t forget to promote your affiliate content not just on your blog but in your email newsletters and on social media as well. Give your readers useful and interesting information to get them to convert.

3. Disclosing Affiliate Relationships

It’s important to be transparent with your readers. Disclose your affiliate relationships in your blog posts, ideally near the affiliate links and in a way that’s easy for your audience to understand.

Selling Products or Services

You can start to sell your products and services on your blog. 

First, create and price your offerings. These could be anything from eBooks, courses, physical products, or even services like consulting.

Next, set up an online store. There are various eCommerce platforms that make this easy, like WooCommerce for WordPress. This serves as your digital storefront where visitors can browse and purchase what you’re selling.

With your products available in the market, promotion is key. You’ll need to tell your readers about your products or services. Write blog posts, use email marketing, and leverage social media to let people know what you’re offering.

Lastly, make sure that your buying process is simple and secure. This is done by using payment gateways that are trusted and reliable.

Step 9: Maintaining and Growing Your Blog

Maintaining a consistent presence on your blog is essential to its growth and continued success. The following are some suggestions that can assist you in expanding the readership of your blog.

Keep Your Blog Alive and Thriving

To ensure your blog stays lively and attracts more readers, remember to do a few key things regularly.

• Stick to a Schedule: Try to post new content on a schedule. This keeps your readers coming back for more and makes search engines notice your blog.

• Update Old Posts: Over time, your older posts may become outdated. Go back and refresh them with new info or ideas. This not only keeps your blog current but also helps it show up better in search results.

• Reuse Your Content: Don’t be afraid to use your blog posts in different ways. You can turn a popular post into a video, podcast, or infographic. This way, you reach more people and make your blog more visible across different platforms.

Connect with Your Audience

Engaging with your audience is a fundamental part when you start a blog. It’s how you build a loyal and active readership.

Let’s explore some simple yet effective ways to do this.

1. Respond to Comments and Messages

Take time to respond to blog comments and messages. This shows you value and care about your audience’s opinions. It also boosts blog engagement and discussion.

2. Conduct Surveys and Feedback Sessions

Surveys and feedback sessions can help you understand your audience. Ask what they like, what topics they want, and how you can improve your blog. This helps you tailor content and makes readers feel heard and valued.

3. Create Community Events or Challenges

Community building is a powerful tool for promoting your blog. Use events or challenges to engage and invite readers to share their stories.

Explore New Marketing Channels

Discovering new marketing channels is like finding different paths to promote your business. This is a great way to explore fresh opportunities and reach more people. Here are three ways to do it:

1. Check Out New Social Platforms

Keep an eye out for new social media sites that are becoming popular. By getting on board with these platforms early, you can grab the attention of a larger audience.

2. Try Paid Advertising

With paid advertising, you control where your ads show up, making it an effective way to launch a blog and reach more readers.

3. Partner with Influencers and Brands

Team up with people who already have a big following. Once you work with them, you can introduce your products or ideas to a larger audience.

Now Is the Best Time to Start a Blog

Building a blog site from scratch is an exciting step filled with possibilities. Through this guide, we’ve walked through the key steps to get you off on the right foot on this amazing journey.

The online world is big and always changing, but with a willingness to learn and a good plan, you can grow your blog over time and really enjoy it.

Now, it’s your turn to jump in. Your unique take on things is something the online world needs, and turning your ideas into engaging blog posts is just a click away!

The post Blogging for Beginners: How to Start a Blog 2024 appeared first on GreenGeeks.

As a website owner, particularly if you’re hosting a WordPress website, you should be concerned about Error 520. This is because it can indicate that visitors cannot access your website due to issues on “your side.”

This can lead to frustrated visitors and potentially lost business.

In this article, we’ll review some of the common causes of Error 520 and provide tips for troubleshooting and fixing the issue.

How Websites are Rendered

To understand error 520 better, let’s take a quick high-level look at how websites and webpages are rendered through web browsers.
Skip this bit if you already know the nuances of how websites are rendered.

Or, if you’re familiar with concepts such as DNS, proxy servers, CDN, SSL handshake, and the like.

When a visitor types in a website URL into the web browser and presses Enter, the browser, first off, sends a DNS query to the Domain Name System (DNS) server. This is usually provided by the Internet Service Provider (ISP).

The DNS server is responsible for translating the website’s domain name (the one you entered in words) into the corresponding IP address of the server the website is hosted on.

The browser then sends a request to the website’s server address (which it received from the DNS server.) The request is relayed to the website server’s (web server’s) firewall.

This is where the request’s journey “through the internet” unfolds to ultimately render the website on the user’s browser.

If the website is protected (or served) by a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare, which is usually the case, the request first goes to the CDN’s servers. These act as forward proxy servers.

The server (also called the edge server) checks its cache to see if it has the requested content. If it does, it sends the content back to the user’s browser. If it doesn’t, it acts as a reverse proxy server and relays the request to the web server hosting the website and its content.

To do so, the reverse proxy server needs to know the IP address of the web server. This is where DNS comes in again.

A Quick Primer on Firewalls and CDN

CDNs are a geographically distributed network of servers (edge servers) that work together to provide fast delivery of internet content. They are designed to serve content to end-users with high availability and high performance.

Cloudflare is a widely used household name of a CDN that provides a range of services, including content delivery, DDoS protection, and web security.

From the purview of the website and the server it’s hosted on, a Firewall creates a barrier between the trusted internal network and untrusted external networks, such as the Internet.

Based on security policies, it monitors and filters incoming and outgoing traffic.

Coming back to how website content is relayed, the request from the CDN goes through the web server’s firewall and into the web server, where it is processed and responded to (with requested content) back to the user’s browser.

It is, in turn, rendered for the user to view.

Now that we have a broad understanding of how websites are rendered let’s look at how they may be obstructed, resulting in error 520.

How Error 520 Occurs

By displaying error 520, the server is essentially saying that it cannot process the request from the user’s browser. Hence, the website is currently unavailable.

Here are some ways it can occur:

PHP Applications Crashing

Sometimes, the website code written in PHP can crash or stop working properly. When this happens, it can cause Error 520 because the server cannot process the request from the web browser.

Incorrectly Configured DNS Records

At any point during the journey of the web browser’s requests, if the DNS records of your website are not set up correctly and in accordance with the web server, the web browser may not be able to find the website’s server, which can cause Error 520.

Corrupt or Incorrectly Configured .htaccess File

An .htaccess file is a configuration file associated with your website code that tells the web server how to handle certain requests. If this file is damaged or has incorrect settings, it can cause Error 520 because the server doesn’t know how to handle the request properly.

Large Request Headers and Excessive Cookie Usage

When a web browser requests a server, it sends along information called “headers,” which include things like cookies (which remember your preferences on a website). If there are too many headers or cookies, it can overload the server and cause Error 520.

Missing Request Headers

In contrast to the above point, sometimes, the web browser may not send all the necessary information to the server when making a request, and it may not be able to process the request correctly.

Empty Response From Server

It can also happen that the web server or the proxies do not send any response back to the browser, resulting in error 520 because the browser wouldn’t know what to do next.

A Firewall Blocking the Connection

Error 520 can occur if there is a firewall or other security measure in place that is blocking the connection between the reverse proxy server and the origin server.

SSL/TLS Handshake Failure

When a user connects to a website over HTTPS, their browser and the web server engage in an SSL/TLS handshake to establish a secure connection. This involves a series of steps to negotiate the encryption settings and exchange keys for encrypting and decrypting data.

Any issue with the SSL/TLS certificate configuration on the origin server can cause a handshake failure with the reverse proxy server and result in Error 520.

For instance, this can happen if the certificate has expired, is misconfigured, or is invalid.

Overloaded Server

Error 520 also arises if the origin server is overloaded and cannot respond to requests from the reverse proxy server.

How to Troubleshoot and Fix Error 520

There is no need to panic when you come across Error 520. There are several ways to identify and troubleshoot the root cause of the error.

Wait it Out

If you encounter an Error 520 while trying to access a website, you should wait a few minutes and refresh the page to see if the issue has been resolved. The error may arise due to temporary network or server issues.

For instance, the server or network may be experiencing a high volume of traffic or temporary overload that causes it to be unable to process requests.

During this time, the server may be fixing the underlying issue or automatically scaling up its resources to handle the increased load. So, it’s only logical that you give it time to start processing requests again.

Pause/Disable Cloudflare Temporarily

If you use Cloudflare as your reverse proxy server, you can temporarily disable Cloudflare to see if the error disappears. If it does, then you’d know the issue lies with Cloudflare and go about troubleshooting the same.

• Log in to your Cloudflare account
• Go to the Overview tab on the left-hand panel
• Scroll down to the Advanced Actions section
• Click on “Pause Cloudflare on Site” to temporarily disable Cloudflare from your website

Check and UpdateDNS Records

Login to your DNS provider account, the way to which could also be through your hosting provider, Cloudflare, or similar services. Check if the records are correctly configured, particularly the CNAME (Canonical Name) records.

CNAME record tells the DNS resolver to look up the IP address of the domain specified in the CNAME record and use that IP address as the destination for the request.

Depending on the DNS provider, updating the records could take a few minutes to several hours for the changes to take effect globally.

Restart PHP

Log in to your web server or hosting account, and locate the PHP configuration file for your website. It is usually named php.ini or located in a directory named conf.d or php.d.

Edit/review the file and make sure that the settings (such as memory limits, execution time limits, and file upload size limits) are configured correctly.

Enter your server’s command to restart PHP. Sometimes, the way to restart PHP is by restarting the web server itself. The commands vary depending on the type of web server and the software it runs.

Check Web Server Error Logs

Error logs can provide valuable information about an incident or error, such as where and why. Depending on the hosting provider, locating or generating error logs may differ.

Most error logs share a similar structure and offer essential details such as the incident’s date and time, the client’s IP address (if applicable), the error message, and a path to the affected resource or line of code responsible for the issue.

Scrutinize them and try to identify the root cause.

Clear the Website Cache

Clearing a website’s cache deletes the temporary files and data stored on the website’s server, like images, scripts, stylesheets, and other types of website content. This will force the webserver to reload all its content from scratch, which can help resolve errors like Error 520.

Clearing the cache can also cause temporary performance issues, as the website must load all its content again.

It’s essential to weigh the benefits and drawbacks before clearing the cache. Ensure all necessary backups are in place before making any changes to the website’s configuration.

On that note, you may want to clear your browser cache on the off chance that the issue stems from your browser.

Check HTTP Error Response With a cURL Command

Running a cURL command in your command terminal, Windows key + R” and typing “cmd” (Windows) | Applications > Utilities > Terminal (MacOS), simulates a request to your website’s server and receives a detailed response.

The command format is as follows: curl -I http://example.com

By understanding what a successful response and an error response look like after a cURL command execution, you can verify that the web server is configured correctly and responding to requests.

You can also retrieve the server’s HTTP response headers and review the status codes and messages. Leave the review part to the experts (the support team) if you think it may be too much to digest.

Disable .htaccess

If your web server is powered by Apache, which is most likely the case, disabling the .htaccess used to configure web server settings on Apache servers can help resolve Error 520.

You can also verify that Cloudflare IPs are not blocked in .htaccess or your firewall.

The .htaccess (hypertext access) is a configuration file for Apache-hosted sites. For the unacquainted, Apache is a popular open-source web server software.

When there is a conflict between the rules in the .htaccess file and the server settings, or if the file is corrupted, the browser can return Error 520.

Check Headers and Cookies

Large headers and cookies can exceed the maximum allowed size limit of web servers or CDNs (like Cloudflare) which can cause Error 520.

For instance, at the time of writing this piece, the maximum threshold size of Cloudflare’s request headers is 32 KB, 16 KB per individual header.

Here are the steps to check headers and cookies.

1. Open the web page where you are experiencing the 520 error.
2. Right-click anywhere on the page and select “Inspect” from the context menu. This will open the developer tools panel.
3. In the developer tools panel, select the “Network” tab.
4. Make sure the “Preserve log” checkbox is checked.
5. Click on the “Clear” button (stop sign icon) to clear any previous network activity.
6. Reload the page to start capturing network activity.
7. Right-click anywhere in the network activity area and select “Save all as HAR with content.”
8. Choose a location on your computer to save the HAR file and click “Save.”

Analyze it to check for any anomalies, such as excessively large cookies or header sizes. If you find large headers and cookies, you can:

• Remove any unnecessary third-party plugins or scripts from your website
• Limit the request overhead i.e. the amount of unnecessary data that is transmitted between the client and the server during each request
• Use a cookie-free domain for your static assets, such as images, CSS, and JavaScript files

WordPress Specific Measures to Addressing Error 520

In addition to the aforementioned steps, here are a couple more that are more specific to WordPress websites.

• Check the WordPress logs to see if there are any errors that are causing Error 520
• Disable all plugins to see if Error 520 goes away. Then re-enable the plugins one by one to determine which one is causing the problem

Last But Not Least – Seek Professional Support

Although there are several steps that you as a website owner can take to troubleshoot Error 520, there may be situations when addressing the error is not entirely within your control.

For instance, if the error is caused by a temporary network outage or a server maintenance issue, you may have to wait for the server to come back online or for the hosting provider to fix the issue.

Also, resolving issues caused by a bug or configuration oversight may require technical expertise that is beyond your scope.

You may need to acquire support from their hosting provider, web developer, or other technical experts who have experience in troubleshooting server-side errors.

Do not hesitate to seek help from technical experts. After all, waiting too long to address them can result in lost traffic and potential revenue for the website.

The post How to Fix Error 520: A Comprehensive Overview appeared first on GreenGeeks.

A website’s inability to load can be caused by a variety of factors. So, in this article, we’ll look at the possible causes of the ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT error before looking at possible solutions.

The Internet has grown to become one of the world’s largest networks, connecting the entire globe and facilitating data sharing. However, there are a few errors that disrupt the normal operation of the Internet, reducing users’ efficiency while working on the system.

What is the err_connection_timed_out Error?

The connection timed out error is not a dangerous problem or an infected file that can harm your system. This message primarily informs you that the system was unable to establish a connection with the server.

Let us first examine how the Internet works.

When a user enters a keyword in the search bar or the URL of a website, the system sends a request to the server to allow access to the website’s content. The connection is established after the server checks the request and grants permission to the system, and data packets are shared between the system and the server.

An ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT error usually indicates that there is a problem with your local network connection. That is not always the case, however.

A connection timed out error appears when your website attempts to do more than your server can handle. It’s especially common on shared hosting, where memory is limited.

When you visit a website that doesn’t load, your browser will try for about 30 seconds before disconnecting. It will then return an “ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT” error, indicating a communication failure.

In Google Chrome, this may appear as “This site cannot be reached.” Domain.com responded too slowly.”

Because of the various web browsers, operating systems, and servers, the error can manifest itself in a variety of ways.

However, the majority of them have the same or similar meanings. “ERR NETWORK CHANGED” and “ERR CONNECTION REFUSED” are two very similar errors that can usually be resolved using the same troubleshooting steps outlined below.

Another common error code that appears under ‘This site cannot be reached’ is DNS PROBE FINISHED NXDOMAIN, which is a DNS error that essentially means the requested domain does not exist.

The following are some examples of how the error might appear in different browsers.

• Mozilla Firefox
  The error message in Mozilla Firefox will be “The connection has timed out.” Domain.com’s server is taking too long to respond.
• Microsoft Edge
  The error message in Microsoft Edge will be “Hmmm… can’t reach this page.” Domain.com responded too slowly.” It does, however, contain the “ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT” error in Edge.
• Safari
  The error message in Safari will be “Safari Can’t Open the Page.” Safari is unable to open the page domain.com because the server on which it is hosted is not responding.”

What Causes the err_connection_timed_out Error?

There could be several potential causes for the connection timed out error. Some of these factors include:

• Slow Internet Connection: One of the possible causes of the error is a slow Internet connection. If the system does not have a fast and reliable Internet connection, it is possible that the server accepted the request but the system took too long to respond due to the slow Internet.
• Invalid URL: If a user attempts to access data via an invalid URL, the server automatically rejects the request.
• Server Delay or Error: There doesn’t need to be a problem at the user end only; it is also possible that there is a server delay and that a data timeout occurred before the server could release.
• Firewall Settings: It is possible that the Windows Firewall did not allow data packets to enter the system, causing the browser to display this error.

How to fix the err_connection_timed_out Error

If you see this error on your website, where should you begin troubleshooting? Without a lot of context, it can be frustrating and overwhelming to know where to start.

Typically, these are either client-side issues (problems with your network connection or firewall) or server-side issues (problems with the server where the site is hosted) (memory limits, execution times, etc.).

Let’s take a look at some solutions for ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT. First, we’ll go over how to fix the problem if you’re getting the error while trying to load the site.

1. Examine Your Internet Connection

To resolve the ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT error, a browser will usually recommend that you first check your internet connection. Due to poor connectivity, it may be difficult for a site to reach a computer promptly.

Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge all advise you to check your network connection. While this may seem obvious, they all point to first checking your connection because it is one of the most common causes of the error.

Here are a few recommendations:

• Restart your router at home or work. This takes only a few minutes and solves far more problems than most people would like to admit. Disconnect the power supply and wait 30 seconds before plugging it back in to completely power cycle it.
• Examine your wifi connection to see if it is bad or slow. This is common in crowded public wifi hotspots like coffee shops or airports.

If the problems persist, try switching to a different network or restarting any relevant devices if you have access to them.

2. Disable Any Proxy Server Settings or VPN Connections.

A proxy server acts as a go-between for your computer and the website you’re visiting. Its function is to protect the user’s IP address, control which sites can be accessed, and cache site data to improve page loading speed.

However, proxy servers may unintentionally block the website you want to visit, resulting in the ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT error.

Reset your proxy settings to see if these servers are the source of the problem. For Windows 10 users, go to the Control Panel by pressing the Windows logo key. Select Network and Internet Options from the menu.

Open the Connections tab -> LAN settings in the Internet Properties window. Make sure to untick all of the proxy settings.

Users of macOS can go to System Preferences Network and select Advance. Uncheck each box on the Proxies tab and then click OK.

Reload the page to see if the error has been resolved. If it has, and you require the use of a proxy server for day-to-day tasks, consider reconfiguring the settings or switching to a different provider.

Those who use a VPN service may also experience the ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT error. In that case, we recommend switching VPN protocols because your ISP or firewall may have blocked the one you’re currently using.

Alternatively, try temporarily disabling the application.

3. Turn Off the Firewall and Antivirus Software, Temporarily

Firewalls and antivirus software are designed to keep users and their systems safe. They regularly scan your device and automatically block any suspicious activity.

However, this level of security can occasionally cause connection problems.

This is because firewalls frequently block unnecessary pages or reject content that is completely safe. This has happened numerous times with software such as AVG.

To see if this is the case for you, disable your firewall and antivirus software. Of course, this is only advised if you are certain that the site you intend to visit is secure.

Furthermore, you should only disable this type of software temporarily. To avoid becoming vulnerable to attacks, turn it back on after you’ve finished checking to see if the error has been resolved.

If you keep getting errors because of your firewall or antivirus software, you should think about changing it and whitelisting the site for access.

4. Change DNS Server

The next option is to change your DNS servers. DNS servers are automatically assigned by your ISP by default. However, you could try temporarily switching to a public DNS server, such as Google or Cloudflare.

Some people prefer to use Google’s public DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) over time because it is often more reliable.

Cloudflare also provides free, secure, and lightning-fast DNS (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1), which we will use in this example. The steps are the same if you want to use Google; simply replace the DNS server addresses with Google’s.

If you’re already using a free DNS server and experiencing problems, removing and reverting it back to your ISP’s DNS servers may help.

Google and Cloudflare aren’t perfect all of the time, and there have been a few instances where switching back has resolved the problem. This is especially true if you’re connecting to a Wi-Fi hotspot in an airport or coffee shop.

Follow these steps if you’re using Windows 10:

• Open the Network and Internet Network and Sharing Center in the Control Panel. On the top left, click Change adapter settings.
• Select Properties by right-clicking on the current connection.
• Select whether your DNS settings should use IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. Then, select Properties.
• Substitute the following IP addresses for the originals:

Use 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.8.4 for IPv4 addresses.

Use 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844 for IPv6.

• Restart the browser by clicking OK.

Those running macOS can refer to the following guide: Customize Your Mac with System Settings. On the DNS tab, in the DNS Servers section, click the Plus sign. Enter each IP address one at a time. Select OK.

5. Renew IP Address and Flush DNS

To flush DNS, you must first clear the DNS caches that your computer has saved.

The DNS cache keeps track of the IP addresses of the websites you visit. This saves the computer from having to translate the domain name to the IP address every time you visit the site.

The DNS cache, like browser data, can become out of date. The IP addresses may be outdated, causing problems when attempting to access the site.

Users of Windows 10 can flush DNS by using the Command Prompt. To access the Run command, press the Windows logo and R keys together. Then, in the dialog box, type “cmd” and press OK.

Enter the following into the Command Prompt window:

ipconfig /flushdns

If it is successful, it will display a success message.

Then add the lines below to troubleshoot the network and renew the IP address. Each time you add a new command, make sure to press Enter:

ipconfig /registerdns

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

netsh winsock reset

Restart your computer and open the browser to see if the commands were successful.

For macOS:

Open the Terminal application on macOS and type the following command:

dscacheutil -flushcache

On Macs, there is no success message.

6. Examine Your Hosts File

Every computer has a file called the local host’s file. This is a file containing manual DNS entries that are associated with specific IP addresses.

This is usually only changed when you want to preview your DNS before moving domains to a new host. Alternatively, you may have a local development site running using a tool such as DevKinsta, Vagrant, or Docker.

There are numerous ways this file could have been changed or edited. As a result, it’s always a good idea to double-check that the website you’re trying to access isn’t listed. Simply follow the steps outlined below.

Windows

Additional access to the host’s file is usually required. As a result, the first step is to launch your text editor as an administrator.

Simply go to your start menu, look for your text editor, right-click it, and choose “Run as administrator.” This can be done in any text editor, including Notepad, Notepad++, Atom, and others.

Navigate to File -> Open in the top-left menu and enter the path below into the File name bar.

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\

Then choose the host file.

Below the last line that begins with the “#” sign, the file will display a list of blocked websites. Delete them and save your changes by pressing Ctrl + S.

macOS

macOS clients can open the Terminal, embed this line underneath, and hit Enter:

sudo nano/private/etc/host

Eliminate the rundown of sites that are underneath the “::1” line.

7. Verify Your Domain’s DNS

You should also ensure that your domain’s DNS is correctly pointed to your hosting provider.

If you recently migrated your WordPress website to a new host, it is possible that the DNS was incorrectly cached on your computer. In that case, step 5 above should suffice.

It could also be that it is too soon and you need to wait a few hours for the DNS to fully propagate.

8. Remove Browser Cache

Web browsers cache information on your computer. This includes your browser history, stored login data, and cookies, which are all preserved to load the relevant sites faster the next time you visit them.

But, before you do anything, you may quickly determine if it’s a browser cache problem by opening your browser in incognito mode.

You might also try a different browser.

If you’re still seeing the issue, you should erase your cache. We’ll use Google Chrome in this example.

Begin by accessing the main menu (in the top-right corner of your browser window). From there, choose More Tools: After that, select Clear browser data.

Make sure that all of the stated file categories are chosen on the subsequent page. Chrome will be unable to remove the full cache if they are not. Instead, it will merely delete the most recent items, which will not provide the intended result.

Another way to finish this procedure is to type the following URL into your browser’s address bar:

chrome://settings/clearBrowserData

The subsequent screen should provide you with the same options as described previously.

WordPress-Specific Fixes for err_connection_timed_out

Sometimes, how your WordPress site is set up can cause a connection time out error. Let’s take a look at what you can check for in WordPress to clear the problem.

The remaining troubleshooting methods will concern the settings of your WordPress site or server.

Examine the Maximum Execution Time

Your site’s maximum execution time. The default time on most servers is 30 seconds. This is the maximum amount of time a PHP script may execute (after which it times out).

On shared hosts, this is usually set to a low value or left at the default.

Because the php.ini file is placed on your server, you cannot simply alter it from WordPress. To change this, we recommend contacting your hosting provider to see if they can assist.

Change the maximum execution time in the php.ini file

Some PHP programs may consume more memory than is permitted, causing the site to take too long to reply to the browser.

The memory limit, like the maximum execution duration, can be increased. However, the quantity should be within the maximum available RAM allowed to your plan by your hosting provider.

If you don’t know the maximum available RAM for your hosting plan, contact the company’s support team or read the documentation.

Open the .htaccess file in File Manager to raise the limit. Then insert the line below, utilizing the maximum available RAM as follows:

memory limit php value 128M

The code should be placed at the bottom. It should be above “END WORDPRESS” if you use WordPress. Finally, click the Save & Close button.

Change the maximum execution time in the .htacess file

Another option is to manually alter the timeout value on the website’s .htaccess file. Locate the .htaccess file in the public html directory. Edit it and paste the following code before the “END WORDPRESS” line:

php value max execution time 120

Finally, click the Save & Close button. Access the website to check if the error has been resolved.

Disable Your Plugins Temporarily

A plugin, like with most WordPress issues, might undoubtedly be the source of the issue. To see if that’s the case, you’ll need to disable all of your site’s plugins.

If you receive the “ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT” error, this indicates that you do not have access to your WordPress admin area. This implies you’ll have to SFTP into your website. We recommend that you use FileZilla.

Connect to your website using your SFTP client and browse to the WordPress root folder. If you can’t locate it, it’s commonly named public html, html, public, www, or the name of your site.

Navigate to the wp-content directory by opening that folder. Inside, you’ll find a plugins folder, which has distinct subdirectories for each plugin installed on your site (both active and inactive).

What you’re going to do now is right-click on the plugins folder and rename it. To make it easier to identify later, we propose plugins.old or plugins.deactivated.

WordPress will now be unable to locate any of your plugins. When this occurs, the plugins are immediately disabled. Try entering your WordPress dashboard now.

If the timeout problem has disappeared, you can presume that one of your plugins was to blame. All that remains is to determine which one was causing the problem.

Return to the wp-content directory and appropriately rename your original plugins folder. Then, one by one, disable each of your plugins until you locate the problem.

NOTE: GreenGeeks customers can disable all of the plugins from the Manage WordPress dashboard of their accounts. This is perhaps easier and quicker for those who don’t know much about using FTP software.

Activate the Default Theme for a Limited Time

If a theme has bloated code or compatibility difficulties with a website, it may produce ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT. WordPress suggests returning to the default theme to see whether the theme is the problem.

If the admin interface is unavailable, you can do this operation manually. This means that you must log in to phpMyAdmin to access your WordPress database.

Click on wp options in the phpMyAdmin section. Then, using the names template and stylesheet, identify two queries. They might be found on the second or third page.

When you’ve located them, double-click on the option value column and change the current theme’s name with a default one. It may be twenty-one, twenty-two, or twenty twenty-three.

You may also have a “Default” WRC Theme that comes with the installation of WordPress.

Check to see whether the admin panel and website are now accessible. If they are, consider reinstalling or changing the theme.

Increase the Memory Limit

The WP MEMORY LIMIT option allows you to determine the maximum amount of memory that PHP can utilize. If you’re using shared hosting, it’s most likely set to a low amount, such as 64M.

You can increase the memory limit by adding the following to your wp-config.php file. This must be placed above the wp-settings.php inclusion.

define(‘WP MEMORY LIMIT’, ‘256M’);

Do you know what your current PHP memory limit is? If you have access to your WordPress dashboard and are using WordPress 5.2 or higher, the PHP memory limit may be found under the “Site Health” tool.

Conclusion

Connection and timeout issues are never enjoyable to troubleshoot, but perhaps you now have a bit more information under your belt to help you address them fast.

It’s critical to understand that the “ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT” error might be caused by a client-side issue, such as a faulty network connection, or by a problem with the server where your WordPress site is hosted.

Do you have any other suggestions for resolving this mistake or problem? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post How to Fix the “err_connection_timed_out” Error appeared first on GreenGeeks.

It can also be inconvenient if you receive it on your MAMP installation, as these sites are frequently checked locally. This normally includes a web browser or your website’s SSL certificate.

Fortunately, it’s rather simple to fix. It might be as simple as clearing your browser’s cache.

What Does it Mean the Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection?

What precisely is a “secure link?” is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s simply an HTTPS link to a website rather than an HTTP link.

Most browsers display these sites with a padlock icon in the address bar, indicating that the link is secure.

HTTPS provides major security advantages over HTTP, but it also comes with stringent compliance obligations. One of these is a genuine SSL certificate.

When a browser is unable to check a website’s SSL certificate, it will return a “connection not secure” error. SSL is a secure data encryption mechanism that ensures the privacy and security of transmitted data.

If a browser detects an issue with a site’s SSL certificate, it will refuse to load that site because it is potentially dangerous. While all of this may appear to be scary, nothing is likely to be wrong.

SSL stands for “Secure Sockets Layer,” and it is a sort of online security that safeguards websites. They are particularly critical for websites that contain sensitive data such as names, contact information, payment information, and so on.

A valid SSL Certificate establishes a secure connection between the visitor’s computer and the server. So, what does it mean when a website is deemed “unsecure”?

Visitors to your website will receive warning messages that say things like:

• “Your connection to this site is not secure”
• “Your connection is not private”
• “Your connection is not secure”
• “Site security certificate is not trusted” depending on the web browser being used. (Android phones and tablets)

The ‘This site can’t provide a secure connection error, SSL ERROR NO CYPHER OVERLAP, SSL Handshake Failed Error, and other SSL connection issues can all be caused by a fault with the SSL certificate.

To put it another way, the website claims to be HTTPS compliant yet does not provide a correct certificate or uses one that is incorrect.

If the certificate cannot be verified, the browser will not load the site and instead display an error message.

Various browsers give error messages differently. On Google Chrome, what you see is “this site can’t provide a secure connection,” “Warning potential security ahead” on Mozilla Firefox, and “Can’t connect securely to this page” on Microsoft Edge.

What Causes the Error “This Site can’t Provide a Secure Connection” to Occur?

The “Not Secure” notice indicates that the connection to that page is not secure. It’s warning you that data transmitted and received over that website is unsecured and that it might be stolen, read, or manipulated by attackers, hackers, and entities with access to internet infrastructure (such as ISPs and governments).

The “Not Secure” warning does not imply that malware has infected your computer or the website you’re viewing. Its sole purpose is to notify you that you are not connected to that page over a secure connection.

Website owners must safeguard their sites, and while site users cannot modify a “Not Secure” notice, they can ask for security measures to be implemented.

This article will explain why the “Not Secure” notice appears and what site owners and visitors may do to resolve the issue. To begin, keep in mind that the warning looks different in various browsers.

Let’s look at the most prevalent causes of this error notification:

• In your local environment, there is no SSL certificate. If you utilize a local environment like MAMP, you generally don’t have a certificate for your website. This should be the first step in addressing your problem because it is most likely the source of your issue.
• SSL caches in the browser are out of date. One of the most common causes of the mistake is this. SSL certificates, like other data, are cached by web browsers. It implies that they don’t have to validate the certificate every time they visit a site that speeds up surfing. However, if your SSL certificate changes and the browser still loads an older, cached version, that might be an issue.
• You have incorrectly set the time and date on your computer. If your computer is set to the wrong date and time, it might cause issues with SSL certificate authentication. Fortunately, there is a straightforward remedy.
• Browser add-ons are programs that extend the functionality of a browser. Authentication issues might be caused by a browser extension that is not properly set or is malfunctioning. This might be malicious, but it’s usually just a simple programming error.
• The SSL certificate is either invalid or about to expire. If your website’s SSL certificate expires or becomes invalid, you’ll get this notice. Certificates must be renewed regularly.

Effect of the Site Not Secure Warning on Your Website

When a website declares itself unsecure, it might have major ramifications, particularly if it is an eCommerce site. Websites that are not safe are subject to cyber threats such as malware and cyberattacks.

A cyberattack on your website can disrupt its operation, prohibit people from accessing it, or jeopardize your customers’ personal information.

Furthermore, a cyberattack might harm your company’s brand and result in the loss of clients. According to research, if your consumers’ personal information is hacked, 65% of them will abandon your site.

The loss of consumers is accompanied by a loss of revenue, which may be particularly damaging to small enterprises.

Fixing Error “This site can’t provide a secure connection” on MAMP Installation

Create an SSL Certificate for the Root Server

You must first create a root SSL certificate. You may now sign extra certificates for your domains using this method. To get started, open your computer’s Terminal program and type the following command: OpenSSL genrsa -des3 -out rootCA.key 2048

This command creates a rootCA.key file with an RSA-2048 key. This key will be used to produce the root certificate. You’ll be prompted to provide a password; remember it since you’ll need it to generate certificates using the key.

Then, to create the root SSL certificate, use the following command: OpenSSL req -x509 -new -nodes -key -sha256 -days rootCA.key rootCA.pem -out 1024

The rootCA.pem file will be used to save the certificate. The number “1024” denotes the number of days the certificate will be valid – you may alter it to anything you wish.

Clearing the Browsing History Including Cookies and Cache

Browser cache and cookies are frequently the sources of SSL certificate issues. To begin, clear your cache and cookies in your browser.

For this example, I’m using Google Chrome. The process is similar in other browsers but may have different steps. Check your browser’s documentation for clearing the cache, cookies, and history.

Step 1: Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete (or go to chrome:/settings/clearBrowserData).

Step 2: Select the period (all times) and then press the Clear data option.

Verify Extensions in the Browser are Disabled

Third-party browser extensions, such as anonymizers, proxies, VPNs, antivirus extensions, and other similar add-ons that may interfere with traffic on the target website, are also requested to be removed (deleted).

Again, I’ll be using Chrome for this tutorial.

Step 1: From the top right corner, click the three vertical menu dots, then go to More tools, then Extensions.

Step 2: Go to chrome:/extensions/ to look at the list of installed Chrome extensions. Disable any extensions that you’re not sure about.

Check the Device’s Time and Date Settings

Secure HTTPS website connection difficulties might also be caused by the wrong time or date on your system, or the wrong time zone.

During authentication, your system verifies the time and date when the certificate is generated, when it expires, and when the certificate of the higher certificate authority expires.

Check that the time and time zone are correct.

For Windows computer systems:

Step 1: Go to the system’s bottom right corner and look at the date and time display.

Step 2: Select Change date and time settings and, if necessary, change the time zone.

Check if the QUIC Protocol has been Disabled

Make sure Chrome’s QUIC support is turned on (Quick UDP Internet Connections). QUIC allows you to establish a connection faster and negotiates all TLS (HTTPS) settings when you connect to a site.

SSL connections, on the other hand, might cause issues in particular situations.

Follow these instructions to deactivate QUIC in Chrome:

Step 1: Start typing chrome: On the Chrome search bar, type /flags/#enable-quic.

Step 2: Change the value of the Experimental QUIC protocol option from Default to Disabled.

Step 3: Restart Chrome to see the changes take effect.

Check if the SSL and TLS Protocols are Enabled

Finally, support for the TLS and SSL protocols may be enough to solve the problem. In most cases, this is the most effective. Activating these protocols has an unintended impact on your internet security, thus you should avoid it unless necessary.

When a user previously used an SSL/TLS version, the secure connection problem appears because the client/browser supports it.

Follow the steps below to activate existing versions of the SSL / TLS protocol (be aware that this is not secure):

Step 1: Go to the control panel and select Internet Options.

Step 2: Go to the advanced tab and activate TLS 1.2, TLS 1.1, and TLS 1.0, as well as SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0 if that isn’t enough.

Step 3: Restart your browser to see whether the problem has gone away.

If you’re using a Windows PC, try the following if neither of these approaches worked to fix the issue “This site cannot offer a secure connection”:

Step 1: Check to see whether there are any static entries in C:WindowsSystem32driversetchost.

Step 2: Go to the control panel, then internet choices, and make sure the security level for the Internet zone is medium or medium-high. If you previously set the priority to high, the browser may have been blocked from making many SSL connections.

Step 3: Relaunch the Chrome browser and put (chrome:/flags) into the address bar.

Step 4: Look for the TLS 1.3 option and make sure it’s enabled or default.

Conclusion

The message in MAMP that says “This site cannot provide a secure connection” not only prevents people from accessing your website but also raises security concerns.

Fortunately, it’s usually harmless and easy to rectify.

This error typically indicates an issue with your browser’s setup or a problem with your website’s SSL certificate (in most cases, it implies you don’t have one at all on localhost).

Following the above advice, you should be able to quickly correct this error and get back to work.

The post How to Fix “THIS SITE CAN’T PROVIDE A SECURE CONNECTION” appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Before delving into the 302 status code properly, let’s talk a bit about HTTP protocol in general.

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) Status Codes

The internet is made of 2 core themes, web clients and servers.

Web clients are your browser, which could be platforms like Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. The point is that you usually access the internet using any of these clients.

Usually, whenever you request a website, you are accessing data from a web server. You make your request and the server responds. This is what happens every single time you view any content online.

You make this request using the HTTP protocol. Protocols are languages that everyone on the internet agrees to use for simplicity. A client requests the server, and status codes let us know whether the request was a success, a failure, or something in between.

HTTP codes are of various forms:

• 1xx: informational requests
• 2xx: successful requests
• 3xx: redirects/ redirection
• 4xx: client errors
• 5xx: server errors

The 3xx are for redirects. This is when an address was requested, but you were sent somewhere else.

For example, let’s say you want to visit https://www.someoneswebsite.com and you wind up viewing https://www.adifferentwebsite.com. This is usually the result of a redirect.

This happens a lot when web developers change the slugs or URLs of posts and pages. Though, usually, these are 301 redirects, which tells search engines the move is permanent.

301 vs 302 redirects

A 301 is a permanent redirect. An example of this is if you apply a 301 redirect to a site “abc.com” to redirect to “xyz.com” permanently. Thus every time someone visits abc.com, they are redirected to xyz.com.

Also, a 301 redirect helps tell Google that you have changed URLs.

All existing ranking moves from the old URL to the new site. This is a permanent move, more like changing addresses and having your mail forwarded to your new address. It might take some time for everyone to catch up, but eventually, they do.

A 302 redirect, as said before, is temporary. This means you plan on moving back to the old site in the near future.

Also, 301 redirects pass “link juice,” whereas 302 redirects do not.

Why is this so important?

Link juice is a search engine ranking factor based on the theory that particular links convey value and authority from one page to the next. It’s a method to see how people are talking about your content, website, and brand.

It is a fantastic method to raise brand awareness, build your reputation, and promote yourself as a reference in your field.

Search engine optimization can suffer as a result of 302 not passing this link juice.

What About Meta Refresh?

Meta refresh is another form of redirect often compared to 301 and 302.

A Meta refresh redirect is a client-side redirect. Unlike 301 and 302 redirects that happen on the web server, it informs the web browser to navigate to a different web page after a certain amount of time has passed.

A five-second countdown with the text “If you are not redirected in five seconds click here” is most usually linked with meta-refresh redirection.

In many circumstances, utilizing a meta refresh redirect can result in confusing your users, they are more vulnerable to spammers, and they also do not pass any link juice. This is bad for many reasons.

What is HTTP 302 status code?

A 302 Found message is an HTTP response status code that indicates that the requested resource has been relocated to a new URL temporarily.

The web server is frequently the cause of it, unlike client error replies found in the 4xx codes, such as the 404 Not Found Error. This can be caused by either a client-side or server-side issue and the user experience is unaffected because the redirect occurs automatically.

Although a browser redirects to this page, search engines do not update their links to the resource (the “link-juice” is not transmitted to the new URL in “SEO-speak”).

A client that receives a 302 Found response code should continue to utilize the original URL for subsequent queries because the location or current redirection directive may be altered.

For instance, what if you’re visiting a clothing website in the United States while you are located in Germany? A 302 redirect would send you to the German version of the site to ensure that currency and other contents are displayed according to your location.

When can you use the 302 status code?

Mostly, rather than being an error, an HTTP 302 response is intended for redirection. Some of the most typical reasons for using a 302 redirect include:

• Redesigning a page — While the other page is being built, you can redirect users to a temporary location.
• Performing A/B testing or site maintenance – Want to put a new page to the test and get feedback on how it performs? You can do this without harming your ranking by using a 302 redirect.
• Promoting a product – You can use a temporary redirect for a page that ordinarily contains other information to drive users to a specific offer.
• A product is sold out — If a product is sold out or temporarily unavailable, consumers can be redirected to a comparable page until it is restocked.
• If the content is broken and you would like traffic redirected to another page
• When you want to collect some data

How to use 302 on your WordPress website

First, log in to your hosting account and open cPanel. Navigate to the domains and select redirect.

On the redirect settings, you select the redirect type with a dropdown box. In this case, it is temporary (302). Select the domain in question, enter the address you wish to redirect to, and then select add.

With this, your redirect has been added.

To remove this redirect, go to the link of redirects, click on delete and then click on remove redirect.

You can also redirect within a website. For instance, you can redirect people from the about us page to the contact us page.

The steps are similar to the above with some changes. After selecting the domain in the box just below, which you left empty previously, enter you’re about us page name as your directory. For the redirection address, select the contact us page name. Add, and then your redirection has been added.

Doing the redirect yourself doesn’t come highly recommended unless you are a highly technical individual. You can make mistakes with your redirects.

One significant implication of this is that you lose traffic to your site. When corrections are made, if you’re lucky, you may get up to 90% of where you were, and even this would take some time.

Why does error 302 occur?

The 302 codes are not usually error messages and don’t usually require fixing. It is only an error if your website is responding with 302 codes that it shouldn’t, and when it responds with a redirect loop, such as ERR TOO MANY REDIRECTS.

Though, 302 codes may be issued inadvertently if something on your website is configured incorrectly. If this occurs, you may encounter issues like when a page on your website unintentionally sends visitors somewhere else.

From Google Chrome, the ERR TOO MANY REDIRECTS error appears like this:

This issue can be the result of a configuration error, a plugin conflict, wrong URL settings, or a misconfigured .htaccess file.

How to fix the HTTP 302 error on your WordPress website

The very first thing you need to do is make sure to perform a complete backup of your website. That way, if anything goes wrong, you can always revert to the previous version.

A WordPress backup plugin comes in handy here. BlogVault WordPress backup, UpdraftPlus, JetPack backups, and WP Time capsule are a few of the best you can use.

To fix HTTP 302 error:

1. Check to see if the redirects are valid

Double-check to see which URLs are causing the 302 error and assess whether the redirect is necessary. To do so, go to the pages on your website that you believe are causing the 302 error and examine if they are functioning as expected.

It is correctly configured if a temporarily unavailable page redirects to the correct resource.

If, on the other hand, a website sends you to the incorrect resource or your browser detects a redirect loop by displaying an ERR TOO MANY REDIRECTS error page, it is a sign that one (or more) of your redirects isn’t configured correctly.

2. Clear browser cookies and cache

Cookies on your web browser are also a common cause of the problem. Using a different web browser, such as Firefox, Safari, Opera, Microsoft Edge, or others, try browsing your website.

If you can visit your website normally using a different browser, you’ll need to erase your regular browser’s cookies and cache.

If changing the browser does not resolve the problem, proceed to the following step.

3. Deactivate all WordPress plugins

A plugin issue is the most prevalent cause of WordPress redirect loops or “Too many redirects.” This error is caused by a plugin attempting to set up a redirect in a way that clashes with basic WordPress redirects.

You must disable all WordPress plugins on your website to remedy this. Normally, you may deactivate plugins by going to the Plugins » All Plugins page in the WordPress admin area.

However, let’s assume that you are unable to enter the WordPress admin area.

In that case, you’ll need to use an FTP client or the File Manager tool in your WordPress hosting control panel to deactivate WordPress plugins.

Simply use an FTP client to connect to your website and navigate to the /wp-content/ folder.

You’ll find the plugins folder there, which you’ll need to rename to “plugins.deactivate” to disable the WordPress plugins.

To load the plugin files, WordPress looks for a folder called plugins. When it can’t find the folder, it disables the database’s active plugins automatically.

You can now go to your WordPress website and look around. If you can now log into your WordPress admin area, one of the plugins was likely the source of the problem.

Switch back to the FTP client or File Manager program and rename your plugins to figure out which one was the cause.

Rename the folder to “plugins” and disable it.

After that, go to the Plugins > All Plugins page in the WordPress admin area of your website. You can then activate your plugins one by one and visit your website to see whether the error can be reproduced.

Once you’ve identified the plugin that’s causing the issue, you can either find a replacement or file a bug report.

4. Fix WordPress URLs

The URLs in the WordPress Address and Site Address fields must be the same for most websites. Some users, however, may use www in one URL and non-www in the other.

These two must be the same.

Because you may not have access to the WordPress admin area, you may need to use an FTP client or the File Manager app to correct the WordPress Address and Site Address within the wp-config.php file.

5. Reset the WordPress .htaccess file

The .htaccess file is a unique file that website servers use to control redirection and other server settings. This file is also used by WordPress to create SEO-friendly URLs and other redirects.

A misconfiguration in the WordPress URL settings is another main cause of this problem. Normally, these choices can be found on the Settings » General page.

WordPress plugins might sometimes make changes to your website’s .htaccess file, resulting in this error. It’s also possible that deactivating a plugin will leave such modifications in your .htaccess file.

You’ll need to manually reset your WordPress .htaccess file in that instance. You can use the FTP client or the File Manager software in your hosting dashboard.

6. Speak to your web host

If the above suggestions don’t fix the problem, you’ll need to contact your WordPress hosting company to make sure it’s not a server problem.

If there is nothing wrong with the server, perhaps the tech support of your web host can help you troubleshoot a bit further.

Conclusion

The status 302 code redirects your site to another address temporarily. It is not always an error message. But in general, using a 302 redirect is not a good idea.

The very few situations where you would want to use a 302 redirect may not be worth the disadvantages. You may want to implement the 301 redirects instead.

The post What is a 302 Redirect and How to Use It Properly appeared first on GreenGeeks.

However, it is comforting to know that the NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID error is a pretty common problem with a variety of potential explanations.

Naturally, you would want to try a range of solutions to get back on track, and all of these issues can be resolved relatively easily.

Today, we’ll go through what NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID is and the SSL certificate. We’ll also discuss several methods for resolving the problem.

Let’s get this party started!

What is NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID?

The system error NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID is commonly known as “Your Connection Is Not Private.” People usually come across it while using Google Chrome to access specific websites, even if they are legitimate and trustworthy.

When people receive this message, it signifies that the Internet connection or the device itself is blocking Google Chrome from loading the website because it is insecure, and accessing it puts one’s privacy at risk.

SSL and NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID

Having an SSL certificate installed on your website should put you and anyone else at ease when using your website. This is because of what SSL is and how it acts

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and it’s the industry standard for keeping an internet connection secure. Its purpose is to secure any sensitive data passed between two systems, preventing thieves from reading and altering any data provided, including potentially personal information.

These two systems can be a server and a client (a shopping website and a browser) or a server to server (for instance, a shopping website and a browser).

For example, an application with personally identifiable information or with payroll information is at risk.

SSL certificates must be installed on a company’s or organization’s website in order to safeguard online transactions and keep customer information private and secure.

The website you’re visiting is safeguarded by SSL if you see a padlock icon next to the URL in the address bar.

How does SSL work?

SSL accomplishes its objectives by ensuring that any data sent between users and sites, or between two systems, is unreadable. It scrambles data in transit using encryption methods, preventing hackers from accessing it as it travels over the network.

Credit card numbers and other financial information, as well as names and addresses, are examples of potentially sensitive information being sent, and they need to be protected.

The procedure it undertakes is as follows:

• A browser or server tries to connect to an SSL-secured website (i.e., a web server).
• The web server is asked to identify itself by the browser or server.
• In response, the web server delivers a copy of its SSL certificate to the browser or server.
• The SSL certificate is checked by the browser or server to see if it is to be trusted. If it is, the web server receives a notification.
• After that, the web server sends a digitally signed acknowledgment, which initiates an SSL-secured session.
• Then, encrypted data is transferred between the browser or server and the web server.

The term “SSL handshake” is used to describe this process. While it may appear to be a lengthy procedure, it is completed in milliseconds.

The term HTTPS (which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) appears in the URL when a website is secured by an SSL certificate. Only the letters HTTP – i.e., without the S for Secure – will appear if you don’t have an SSL certificate.

Thus, with this form of sophisticated and air-tight security, it is surprising that one can have SSL cert installed, and still experience NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID error message.

In the vast majority of circumstances, the error will not prohibit you from viewing the site. You can choose to ignore it and proceed to go to the page you’re looking for, but we don’t encourage it.

Because while the NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID issue is common and easy to rectify, it does occasionally signify a genuine hazard.

Variations of the NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID Message

While the NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID error message is most commonly seen in Chrome, other browsers have their own version of the error. The particular message you see is also influenced by your operating system.

On Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari, the messages differ from one another, as well as the solutions.

On Firefox: the bright yellow outline is a dead giveaway.

On Safari: the error mostly appears as a pop-up.

How to Fix the NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID Error Message

Now that we’ve taken a look at why this error could occur, how it appears differently on various browsers, and SSL certificates, let us now talk about how to fix it.

The steps below will teach you how to fix the NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID system problem and get rid of the notification “Your connection is not private”.

You should attempt all of the approaches listed as there is no assurance that just one will fix it right away.

1. Reload the Site

Let’s start with the most basic solution, simply reloading the page. You could alternatively close and relaunch your browser before returning.

Things don’t always operate the way they should, and it’s preferable to try a quick repair than waste time troubleshooting. Unusual as it may sound, it’s possible that you just caught the website owner in the middle of renewing their SSL certificate.

2. Check Your Internet Connection

This is the next logical step to take if the error persists after you’ve reloaded the page. If you’re using public Wi-Fi, there’s a good chance that your connection isn’t secure.

To be safe, you might wish to stop browsing and disconnect from the public Wi-Fi. Attempt to re-access the internet using a mobile hotspot.

If you don’t encounter the same error message, then you know that the issue was from the public connection. If you do get the same error, try using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

On the other hand, if you were already using a VPN when you first noticed the problem, you should try disabling it, since that could be the source of the problem.

3. Restart Your Computer

After doing the above with no resolution, restart your computer. Many times, restarting your computer solves a lot of issues.

4. Check Date and Time Settings

Incorrect date and time parameters error can occur if your time is wrongly set. Your browser checks that a site’s SSL certificate hasn’t expired using the clock on your machine.

Even if your computer is set to automatically sync, it can still be thrown out of sync. If you’ve recently traveled between time zones, for example, your laptop may not yet be up to date.

So, double-check that your device’s date and time are correct. Then try navigating again after reopening the browser.

5. Determine if Your SSL Certificate Has Expired or is Faulty

If you notice this mistake on your own website, it may be time to have your SSL certificate reissued. SSL certificates do expire. You may check this immediately on Chrome.

How to Check Your SSL Certificate

Begin by clicking the three dots in the browser window’s top-right corner. Then go to More Tools > Developer Tools.

Go to the Security page and check to see if the certificate is still valid. To access further information, including the certificate’s expiration date, click the View Certificate button.

You can also check the validity of your certificate with a tool like Website Planet SSL Checker, Qualys’ SSL Server Test, SSL certificate expiration alerts, certificate expiry monitor, SSL certificate expiration checker, TrackSSL, and more

For example, using Qualys’ SSL Server Test looks like this:

Simply enter your domain name in the space provided and press the Submit button.

The test may take several minutes to complete. A detailed analysis of your SSL configuration, as well as a letter grade for each item, will be included in your results. Ensure that you pay special attention to the SSL certificate’s expiration date.

These methods can also be used for the verification of the authenticity of an SSL certificate on someone else’s website. You won’t be able to do much more than try to contact the website’s owner and inform them that their accreditation has expired.

If your own certificate has expired, you can resolve the NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID problem by renewing it. Your host may be able to help you with this, or you may be able to do it yourself using your control panel.

Whichever method you use, ensure that you sort out your SSL certificate’s renewal before it becomes a huge problem for you.

6. Reinstall Chrome or Other Browsers

Sometimes, settings or functions of browsers can become corrupt for a number of reasons. In some cases, it’s better to start over from scratch.

Since browsers don’t take long to reinstall, it’s an easy method to see if it fixes the problem.

7. Update Your Operating System

Because earlier versions of operating systems may no longer be supported once, they become obsolete. You should always have the most recent version installed.

Furthermore, elements of SSL certificates are no longer compatible with earlier operating systems.

If your operating system is out of date, you’ll start seeing errors like NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID more frequently as time goes on.

The same can be said about out-of-date browsers. If you haven’t updated your browser in a while, now is a good time to do so. Even if the browser is current, uninstalling and reinstalling it might occasionally help.

8. Disable Doubtful Third-Party Browser Extensions

Third-party extensions are known to cause issues from time to time, and this can be dependent on the number of third-party extensions you have installed.

The solution to this requires you to test each extension individually. You do this by uninstalling the extension, then testing the browser and checking if the error persists.

9. Disable Windows Firewall Temporarily

It’s possible that your antivirus software has a setting that causes the NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID issue. To see if this is the case, turn off your antivirus software and try to access the website. When you do this, make sure to force a refresh.

If you find that your antivirus program is the source of the problem, you should first attempt updating to the most recent version. If the problem persists after updating, you can contact the software’s support team.

To disable the Windows Firewall:

1. Click on the Windows key and type Windows Firewall.
2. Click on the first option and open Turn Windows Firewall off or on section.
3. Select Turn off Windows Firewall and check if the issue still occurs.

10. Clear Browser Cache and Cookies

There are a couple of ways to figure out if deleting your cache will assist. First, use incognito mode to access the website. If it doesn’t work, try accessing the site using a different browser.

If nothing of these options work, deleting your browser cache is a good bet for resolving the issue.

The procedure varies depending on which browser you’re using.

You can try reopening your browser and reloading the website after clearing your cache and cookies.

Clearing browser cache on chrome:

1. Open Chrome and click on the Menu icon.
2. Navigate to History and select Clear browsing data.
3. Ensure that the Browsing history and cache are cleaned.
4. Wait for the cleanup to finish before reopening the browser.

11. Clear Your SSL Cache

If clearing the cache in your browser didn’t work, try emptying the SSL cache. To save time when you reconnect later, the SSL cache keeps credentials for websites you’ve visited.

In the meanwhile, if an SSL certificate is changed, your browser’s SSL cache may prevent it from recognizing the change.

Navigate to the Control Panel and select Network and Internet to clear the SSL status in Chrome on Windows. The button to Clear SSL status can be found under the Content tab.

Reopen your browser and go to the webpage once more. If the NET::ERR CERT DATE INVALID problem persists, there are more solutions for you to try.

12. Replace Current DNS Servers with Google DNS Servers

Depending on your present arrangement, you might want to consider switching your Domain Name System (DNS) server to or from Google’s Public DNS. Before making any changes to your DNS settings, make a note of what the numbers are now in case you need to go back and alter them.

Start by going to the Control Panel in Windows and changing your DNS server there. Then, select Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.

The adapter settings need to be changed. Select Properties from the context menu when you right-click on your connection.

After that, select and then press the button. Select The following DNS server addresses should be used:

Enter 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 in the boxes to use Google’s Public DNS. Cloudflare’s DNS addresses are 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1, respectively.

Close the window by clicking OK. For the changes to take effect, you’ll need to restart your browser.

The procedure is identical for Mac users, with a few exceptions.

Having discussed these very many likely fixes, it is important to state a disclaimer. While some fixes such as reloading the site and reinstalling the browser are not risky, others such as lowering your firewall protection level or changing your network settings should be done with care.

If you’re confident in the website and its owner, however, please go ahead. But be sure you’re not jeopardizing your safety.

NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID and WordPress

“Your connection is not private; attackers might be trying to steal information…”

This error basically occurs when an SSL certificate is not installed on your website. In this section, we’ll discuss how to fix this, and install an SSL certificate on your website

For this, you have to first go to your dashboard or your cPanel. It all depends on the hosting that you’re using. Whenever you purchase from a new hosting provider, you get an email. In that message, you have your cPanel link, username, and password.

Thus, you have to start with that email. Not to worry, as the message will have all the details about how to log into your web hosting account and access cPanel and other features.

Once in your hosting account, it’s easy to add Let’s Encrypt SSL to your website. That is as long as your web host provides such a feature.

One of the ways to fix the “not secure” warning on your WordPress website if your SSL certificate has been installed, is by installing an “SSL Content Fixer” plugin.

You do this by navigating to your dashboard in WordPress, going to Plugins, and clicking, “Add New.”

Search the plugins. Then, add and activate the SSL Content Fixer.

Navigate to the plugin and edit its settings. Select the level of fixing and start from the simple level first. It has the least effect on the site’s performance.

Most times, the capture does it. Save changes and reload the site.

Summary

The ‘NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID’ error has many potential causes. It can be very frustrating trying to figure it out, but we’ve provided an array of options, some with step-by-step guides on how you can possibly solve them.

Good luck!

The post 12 Ways to Fix the NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID Error appeared first on GreenGeeks.

We will explain what the SPDY protocol for Google Chrome is exactly, and thereafter, we’ll see exactly the meaning of ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR.

Afterward, we’ll look at five ways in which this error can be fixed.

An Introduction to SPDY in Google Chrome

SPDY, pronounced “speedy,” is a networking technology designed by Google with the motive of boosting web content delivery. It is a protocol designed to replace HTTP.

HTTP is a web protocol that allows browsers and servers to communicate and interact with each other. It provides basic request/response semantics.

There are some issues with HTTP which SPDY was designed to replace. One of such is the increase of page load time by at least 5%. It also uses Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) as the underlying transport layer to be compatible with the existing network infrastructure.

TCP is a genetically reliable transport that guarantees delivery of the data. It also reduces latency.

Other advantages of SPDY include:

• Reduced bandwidth consumption
• Increased efficiency
• User Experience Improvements (UX)

SPDY alters web traffic and data after it leaves the server, thereby reducing bandwidth use. As a result, consumers may have a faster experience.

It can also assist in fixing a lot of problems associated with the use of HTTP. One of which is that HTTP can only retrieve one thing at a time, whereas SPDY can download numerous files at once.

Understanding the ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR in Chrome

The ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR is an error that is seen with the use of the Chrome browser. It shows that the problem encountered is not from the site being checked but with the Chrome browser that is being used.

This means that with other browsers, this error is not displayed the same. However, it is important to note that other error messages occur which are specific to other browsers.

For example, PR_CONNECT_RESET_ERROR is specific to Firefox.

When this error is encountered, there is a limitation to the access of certain webpages especially those that are Google-owned like Gmail, YouTube, Blogger, and the likes.

However, this does not mean it cannot occur on unrelated websites, and this is a sign that the SPDY protocol no longer supports the browser.

How to Fix the ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR in Chrome

Since you have an idea of what the ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR message is all about, it is time we talked about how it can be fixed.

Here are some of the things you can do to fix the problem:

1. Update and Restart your Chrome Browser
2. Use Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode
3. Clear Your Browsing Cache
4. Flush the SPDY Pockets
5. Clean the DNS and Renew the IP
6. Switch to another browser
7. Disable your antivirus
8. Use the Chrome Cleanup Tool

Note that these approaches are specific to Google Chrome and may not work for other browsers. Any attempt to try the steps in another browser might be useless.

1. Update and Restart Your Browser

The first solution that should come to mind is updating or restarting the browser. Sometimes, that might be all that is needed to fix this error as simple as it seems, which should restore access to specific websites.

To do this, close the browser, open it, and try to gain access to the website again. Note that this solution is a temporary solution and you may want to find a more permanent fix by trying some of the other methods.

If this error is not resolved after restarting the browser, then you could try to update Chrome to the latest version.

To do this, go to the top right corner of your browser. You’ll see three vertical dots – click on them. Then, go to Help > About Google Chrome.

You will be taken to an ‘about’ page. This will show you the current version of the Chrome browser you are using. If it needs updating, it will begin to download the newest version.

Once it has finished updating, click on the Relaunch button.

Then, go to the webpage again and see if ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR has been fixed. If it hasn’t, then move on to the next method.

2. Use Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode

Another easy and efficient way to solve the problem is to use Chrome in ‘incognito’ mode. To do this, go to the menu of your Chrome browser and click on, “New incognito window.”

Another way to access the incognito mode is to press Ctrl+Shift+N on your keyboard. Once it has been activated, enter the web address of the site you’re trying to open into the search bar.

If this solves the problem, then you’ll be able to access the site. Take note that this is not a permanent solution and you still have to find out how you’ll get a more stable fix for the issue.

If the problem persists, then try the next method.

3. Clear Your Browsing Cache

If the webpage is still unavailable after restarting your browser and utilizing incognito mode, you can try clearing your browser’s cache.

A cache allows images and web pages to be pre-stored on your hard drive for quicker access if you return to the same sites or pages with the same components.

To clear your cache, open Chrome and go to Settings. Then, scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose the Advanced link.

This will bring up a drop-down menu with additional options. Select, “Clear browsing data.”

After that, you’ll see a new window with two tabs: Basic and Advanced.

It is advised to stay in the Basic tab. This prevents you from losing your passwords, auto-fill data, and other important data. Simply click the “Clear data” button and wait a few moments for the browser to finish.

Restart your browser after the process is finished to see if ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR persists. If it does, you can move on to the next method.

4. Flush the SPDY Sockets

This is one of the most effective approaches that help to solve the ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR. The following steps are taken to flush the SPDY socket; Open your Chrome browser and type or copy and paste the URL below:

chrome://net-internals/#events&q=type:SPDY_SESSION%20is:active

Then press enter and it should take you to a page similar to this:

On the left-hand navigation panel, select Sockets:

Using the drop-down for “capturing events,” click the Flush sockets link from the list. Then try going back to the site that prompted the error to see whether the issue has been fixed or it persists.

If the error persists, there’s one other option that you can try.

5. Clean the DNS and Renew the IP

If you’ve done all the following and are still getting the ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR message, the problem may be with your Domain Name System (DNS).

You’ll need to open a command prompt to flush out your DNS.

For Windows PC

Most Windows operating systems have a command-line interpreter app called a command prompt. Its function is to carry out directives that you enter on the command line.

The majority of those commands use scripts and batch files to automate activities, conduct advanced administrative functions, and troubleshoot or resolve specific Windows issues.

This can be accomplished in Windows by pressing Win + R, followed by “cmd” in the windows that display. Then, press Enter.

Also, you can open the Start menu and type “Command Prompt” or “CMD” in the search field. Then, select Run as administrator:

If you are using a Mac, you can use Terminal to get to the command prompt.

Once in the command prompt, type in the following and hit enter:

ipconfig /flushdns

Once the operation completes, check the website you’re trying to access again.

For Mac

To achieve this, launch Finder and then select Applications from the left-hand panel:

After that, go down and select the Utility folder, then Terminal:

Once in the terminal, enter the following command and hit enter:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache;sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

You may have to enter your Mac’s password to complete the task. Afterward, check the website you’re trying to access again to see if the problem persists.

6. Switch to Another Browser

If all the above methods did not solve the problem, another alternative is to switch to another browser. Browsers differ in how much they handle protocol errors.

In other words, not all browsers will have identical issues across the board.

For instance, Google Chrome’s security might flag a secured website as being unsecured simply because of the type of SSL being used. On the other hand, Firefox or Microsoft Edge might not detect the same site as having an issue.

Alternative browsers include Opera, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. You can try using the browsers to explore the site to determine if the issue continues.

7. Disable your Antivirus

Sometimes, the problem encountered can be a result of antivirus software. Disabling it for a while may be the solution to remedy the problem.

Another alternative is switching to another antivirus application. Many Avast Security software subscribers have the “err spdy protocol error” when visiting certain websites.

If you’re using Avast specifically, you can try the following:

• Open Avast and go to the Settings menu.
• Select “active” Protection.
• From the drop-down menu, choose “Customize Web Shield Protection.”
• Add the website addresses one by one to the “URLs to exclude” column.

8. Use the Cleanup Tool on Google Chrome

Many experts recommend using the Chrome Cleanup Tool. It can be used to fix the ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR in Google Chrome.

It uninstalls any unwanted extensions that are interfering with your browser.

To fix the problem, simply download and run Chrome Cleanup Tool. When the tool has finished scanning the PC, check to see if the issue has been addressed.

Summary

Google Chrome is a very common browser with a staggering 65% market share currently, and it has a very good performance rate in most cases.

However, there are sometimes you may come across some error messages such as ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR, which prevents your access to certain websites.

Although this problem can be frustrating, it is a problem that can be resolved without a lot of technical knowledge. And the above steps demonstrate how easy it is to fix the error.

The post How to Fix ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR in Chrome appeared first on GreenGeeks.

People can deal with a slew of errors when using the internet. In this post, we will talk about error 400, one of many 4xx status codes. It restricts users from accessing the desired website or web resources.

We will take a comprehensive look at error 400. After that, we will discuss several methods to solve for the error 400 message.

So, let’s begin with a simple question: What is a bad request 400 error?

What is Error 400?

You can call it an error 400 message or 400: Bad Request. The error 400 also shows as “HTTP error 400” in some browsers but can be different for others.

The bad request error occurs when the server you’re trying to reach sees your access request as a general client error. Hence, it rejects and doesn’t verify your request. In turn, that leads to the error 400 response on your browser. 

It often shows when the server can’t categorize the error in other categories of status codes. It generates the “400 Bad Request” response on your browser. This error shows that the request you sent had some issues (i.e., the user) with the server before processing.

The server might classify it as a client-side generic error due to invalid request message framing, or even malformed request syntax.

Another possible reason for the 400 Bad Request error message is deceptive request routing. The server sees all those issues as client-initiated errors. The server cannot and will not process your access request in this case.

In most cases, a 400 Bad Request is due to client-side issues. However, it’s also possible that the server has encountered poor configuration or other problems.

Let’s take a look at some of the error 400 variants.

Multiple Variations of the Error 400

The error 400 is from the HTTP status code family. Therefore, it informs the user of why they can’t access a specific site. In rare cases, the error message may not show the error code, or the message may vary.

That’s because of the variations of the error of 400 message.

These variations of the bad request error 400 include:

• Bad Request – Error 400
• Bad Request – Invalid URL
• 400 Bad Request
• HTTP Error 400 – Bad Request
• HTTP Error 400
• 400 – Bad Request
• Bad Request – Your browser has sent a request that this server couldn’t understand
• 400 Bad Request – Request Header Or Cookie Too Large
• HTTP Error 400 – The request hostname is invalid

Why Are You Getting an Error 400?

Your computer sends a request to a web server when you hit enter after typing in a URL. The server receives the request, reads and then verifies it. Then, it sends the requested web page back to you.

So, the error 400 occurs when the server sees an issue in your request.

It will neither process the request nor send the requested web resource. Instead, it will simply send an error message such as “400 Bad Request”. Here’re a few reasons why you might see error 400:

• Malformed URL syntax
• Outdated/corrupted DNS cache
• Outdated browser cookies and cache
• Large file size

6 Methods to Fix the Error 400

Here’s a useful tip before we dive into a few ways to solve error 400. It would help if you tried reloading/refreshing the page. Sometimes, the problems that deny your access request can fix themselves.

Don’t fret if a simple reload/refresh didn’t let you access the site or web resource. You can quickly try some of the following methods to fix error 400

1. Clear Outdated DNS Cache

Let’s look at it this way: your device quickly scans different DNS records when you go to a site. Your device searches for IP addresses, server names, and previously visited domain addresses/names in the DNS records. The content that your system is searching for in the DNS cache should relate to the domain name you’re trying to access.

Following that, your device clocks and stores the IP address of the servers in its DNS records. That way, your device doesn’t have to spend much time calculating and searching for a domain name match in the DNS cache.

Thereafter, subsequent visits to the site load even faster.

The main issue is that the DNS cache has pre-allocated space in your device’s internal storage. And if you visit a lot of different websites, your DNS cache will require manual clearance since it can become outdated or corrupted.

Due to a corrupted DNS cache, the server rejects your browser’s request as it appears to have an error. Thus, you see the error 400 Bad Request message.

You have to manually remove the corrupted/outdated DNS cache from your device to solve the issue.

You can find this DNS cache inside the operating system of your device.

Clear Outdated DNS Cache in Your MacOS X Device

1. Press the F4 key on the keyboard/keypad
2. Open the Terminal
3. Run the command terminal
4. Type the command “sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder”

Clear Outdated DNS Cache in Your Windows 10 Device

1. Go to the Windows Start Menu and right-click it
2. Click on search and type “command prompt.”
3. Run the Command Prompt 
4. Type the command “ipcongif/flushdns”
5. Press enter and wait until the process completes
6. The message “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache” will appear if the action completes

Clear Outdated DNS Cache in Google Chrome

1. Open Google Chrome 
2. Without inverted commas, click on the address bar and type “chrome://net-internals/#dns” without inverted commas.
3. Click on “Clear host cache.”

If you use any other browser, make sure you clear the outdated DNS cache in it to solve the error 400 messages.

You will also find a lot of repair tools for WordPress sites specifically. Such tools can help you solve many issues with your website if you’re an administrator.

2. Disable Browser Extensions

Disabling browser extensions is an often overlooked method to solve the error 400 Bad Request. You can try disabling or even removing the extensions you currently have. Once you do that, check if that resolves the issue.

Numerous browser extensions bring additional code into the browser’s working frame. That interferes with how the browser sends a request to a certain web server.

In short, your web browser extensions may be the main cause of error 400. 

Due to the extensions interfering with your browser’s request, the server may reject your request and not verify it. Moreover, a lot of extensions affect browser cookies and cache. That can also lead to the error of 400 messages.

Therefore, we recommend that you disable your browser’s extensions and check if that resolves the issue. Here’s how to do that in the Google Chrome browser:

1. Run Google Chrome 
2. Click the three-doted menu at the top of the browser (right side)
3. Click on “More tools.”
4. Select Extensions
5. Manually disable all extensions by clicking on the on/off switch
6. Refresh the web page or insert the URL once again
7. If the issue doesn’t resolve, move to another method

If the browser extension triggers the error 400 messages, the web page will load normally. We advise that you narrow down your search for the culprit extension. Once you confirm that extensions triggered the error 400, find the one that’s responsible.

Turn on all the extensions once again and reload the page. If error 400 shows up again, start turning off the extensions one by one to find the one triggering the bad request error.

Disable these extensions, or remove them from your browser.

3. Cross-Check the Domain Address

We stated earlier that the HTTP 400 error occurs due to client-side mistakes. One of the biggest and most common mistakes is entering the wrong URL.

By typing the wrong URL to reach a certain website, you may trigger error 400.

You might have made a typo while entering the URL in the browser’s address bar. You may have a malformed syntax in the address. Similarly, you possibly inserted illegal or irrelevant characters when typing the URL. 

Make sure you check the spelling of the domain name you’re trying to reach. Pay attention if your URL contains a file name, query string, directory path, or special symbols.

Misplacing a single hyphen (-) is enough to trigger the error 400 messages.

A poorly encoded URL can also cause the error 400. The encoding process converts the URL into ASCII characters. That makes it easier to transfer the URL request over the internet to the server.

But a single misplaced character such as a double percentage sign (%%) instead of a single will fall under a malformed syntax error. That’s enough to trigger the error 400.

In short, you will receive the error 400 if you’re using a badly encoded URL.

4. Clean Corrupted/Outdated Browser Cookies and Cache Data

Your browser cookies store data about your behavior with several sites. They improve the user experience and site personalization so you can keep visiting them. The same goes for browser cache data.

The cache data stores information to help load sites faster. Those components include images and text.

Both cookies and cache data combine to provide a personalized browsing experience to the user. However, there’s one serious issue with both types of browsing features.

Cookies and cache can get corrupted or outdated.

Outdated cookies and cache are common causes of error 400. If your browser sends large cookie files, the server may respond with an error 400 “Bad Request” message.

To solve the error 400 and access the web page, you should clear outdated browser cookies and cache. 

Clearing Corrupted Cookies and Cache in Google Chrome:

1. Click on the three dots at the top-right corner of Google Chrome
2. Click on Settings
3. Go to the “Privacy and Security” tab
4. Select “Clear browsing data.”
5. Check the boxes “Cached images and files,” “Cookies,” and “Other site data.”
6. Click “Clear data” and wait for Chrome to finish the process

Note that following these steps will sign you out of several websites. You may also lose personal settings for a few.

Additionally, the loading time may increase slightly for several sites. Try the following method if clearing outdated cache and cookies doesn’t work.

5. Review and Ensure Proper File Size

Sending large files to the server will trigger error 400. You may encounter a “400 Bad Request” error message if your request exceeds the file upload limit of the server.

The simplest solution for this issue is to compress your files.

You can resize the large file to fit the upload size limit of the server. Nevertheless, resizing a file may result in lower quality. This is common for image and PDF files as the content can become unreadable and blurry.

6. Try Restarting PC or Relevant Hardware

As a last resort, restart your PC to solve the issue. Also, restart your network connection as it may also resolve the bad request error.

You can even try resetting your router or other connections.

Restarting your PC or internet hardware will clear up some storage on your Random Access Memory (RAM). By clearing space on your RAM, the error 400 issue may resolve.

Conclusion

You can try a combination of methods to solve the error 400 Bad Request message. If you keep experiencing the issue, try talking to an experienced professional. It’s a client-side issue most of the time, and that’s why it’s easy to solve.

A lot of client-side issues can interfere with the request you submitted. For example, there might be local caching issues with your request.

You can easily understand and use the methods above. They require minimal technical knowledge so you can resume your work in no time.

The post What is a Bad Request Error 400 and How Do You Fix It? appeared first on GreenGeeks.

It can be extremely annoying to interrupt your online project or research to solve these issues. Therefore, we have created a useful guide to help you diagnose and solve the 401 error as quickly as possible.

What’s more, the 401 error page doesn’t give default diagnosis and solving tips.

So, this guide will cover 4 different and effective methods to solve the 401 error. We advise that you take a more comprehensive look at what the error entails. By understanding what it means at its core, you can better prepare to solve the problem.

What is a 401 Error?

In simple terms, the 401 error prevents you from accessing a site or specific web page. If you’re an experienced programmer or developer, here’s a technical definition for you:

“401 unauthorized error (unauthorized error) shows that the request from the server didn’t get clearance or verification.”

Let us take you through the process of seeing a 401 error. When you insert a URL into your browser, regardless of which one you’re using (such as Chrome, Firefox, or Opera), it sends a request to the server.

The server, i.e. the hosting platform for the URL you’re trying to reach, must verify the request to let you access the site. However, when the server doesn’t verify your request, you get the 401 error page.

To verify your request to the server manually, you will have to log into it using the necessary credentials. The 401 error page can appear on both the client and server sides.

Reasons You’ll Get a 401 Error Page

• Putting in the wrong URL (typing the wrong URL/site address in the browser)
• Outdated or maxed out browser cookies and cache
• Invalid credentials such as password and username

You will get the 401 error page when you’re trying to visit restricted sites or web pages in some cases. It will also show the same error page when you try to access the restricted resources on a site.

Plus, it’s common to see the 401 error if you try to access a web page that requires you to log in using valid credentials first.

You will get the error when entering the wrong credentials or not entering them to access a password-protected web page. The main message on the 401 error page is “unauthorized access,” which states that you’re trying to access a web page or limited resource without providing valid login details.

This error mainly occurs on the client’s side due to several facts. For example, a user might type the wrong URL or enter the wrong address in a hurry.

That doesn’t mean the same error doesn’t occur on the server’s side. The server may be blocking your access and showing the 401 error page. That happens mainly when the authentication process on the respective site (hosting server) is broken. 

On the other hand, the server can block general or specific users’ access to various online resources. In short, this error will show you a prompt/message page rather than taking you to the actual site.

A Few Variations of the 401 Error

It’s not just a bland and plain 401 error nowadays. You can get a range of different types of errors thanks to the variations. Here’s what the error message for a 401 error might look like:

• 401 Authorization Required
• Access Denied
• 401 Unauthorized Error
• HTTTP Error 401

Talking about different error messages, let’s take a look at several variations of the 401 errors that clients usually encounter:

• 401.504: The hostname you’re using is in the server’s deny list.
• 401.503: This error occurs when your IP address is in the server’s deny list.
• 401.502: In this case, the error occurs due to the same client sending countless access requests to the same web server. The client hits the rate limit for sending a request (dynamic IP Restriction Concurrent).
• 401.501: It occurs when you (i.e., the client) send multiple access requests that max out the request limit.
• 401.3: failed login attempt as a result of Access Control List (ACL)
• 401.2: failed login attempt as a result of server configuration
• 401.1: failed login attempt

Are the 401 Error and 403 Error Similar?

Although both errors appear the same, they’re very different. The 401 error code shows when a client (i.e., you) fails to access online resources or a web page. It occurs when the server denies and doesn’t verify your browser’s request to access resources.

Keep in mind that the server declines the request for two reasons:

1. The client didn’t provide login details/credentials
2. The client provided the wrong login details/credentials

The 403 error, or the “Forbidden Error,” means that the server denies access to a small part of the requested resources. When you encounter this error, you access a certain portion of the requested resources on a site.

Both errors have different causes. The 401 error occurs due to invalid credentials (login failure). The 403 error (on the client’s side) is due to inadequate access to parts of the website.

For example, you will get the 403 error when you only have a “visitor role” on a WordPress site and try to access members-only resources.

One more reason behind the 403 forbidden error is geo-blocking. This error status response also occurs when clients try to access sites or resources for specific regions or countries.

Variations of the 403 error include:

• Forbidden: You don’t have the permission to access [specific directory] on this server 
• Access Denied: You don’t have the permission to access
• 403 Forbidden

Why Are You Getting the 401 Error?

Why do you keep getting the 401 error for a site you used to visit? Actually, this problem can happen aside from restricted access or improper credentials.

A few possibilities of getting a 401 error include:

• Outdated browser cookies and cache
• Extra themes, modules, and plugins
• Incompatible plugins and themes
• Outdated site address
• Incorrect URL inserted

4 Different Methods to Solve the 401 Error

Before trying out one of the following troubleshooting methods, refresh the page. The “one last reload” can often solve the problem to save you some time. If that doesn’t work, here are the tips you need!

1. Clean Up Your Browser Cookies and Cache Data

You may already know that browser cookies and cache data improve user experience on several websites. The primary purpose is to let the respective sites know that a frequent user/visitor is back.

Hence, cookies and cache data improve web page personalization and loading speed.

However, browser cookies and cache data can be the reasons behind 401 errors. Both take up digital space in your device’s internal storage. The cache stores a website’s “static assets.” That data doesn’t change during frequent visits to the same site.

In short, cache helps your browser preload various elements and components of the live site that you’re trying to visit beforehand. This marginally reduces the page-loading time—likewise, cookies store device-specific and browser-specific information on your device.

A perfect example of cookies on your device is staying logged in on a particular site. For instance, it could be a popular social media platform that you use. Cookies and user authentication data keep you logged in.

However, your browser’s cookies or cache may have fallen victim to a virus. Both can get corrupted and prevent you from accessing a site by interfering with server authentication. What’s more, the cookies and cache can become outdated.

In that case, you will have to refresh them manually and clear up some browser space from your device’s internal storage. The steps for doing this depend on the browser you’re using.

Clearing Google Chrome’s Cookie Data and Cache

1. Go to your browser’s settings by clicking on the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of Google Chrome
2. By clicking on the three-dotted icon, a long dialogue box will open
3. You can click on Setting -> Privacy and Security -> Clear Browsing Data
4. Before clicking on the “clear” button to delete outdated cookies and cache data, change the time range
5. Click on “Time” and select “All time” to remove all the cookies and cache from your browser (i.e., Google Chrome)

2. Double-Check the Inserted URL

Trust us when we say that users fail to insert the correct URL most of the time. Yes, it’s possible to encounter the 401 error if you type in the wrong site URL in your browser.

That will send the access request to the wrong address (that might not host the falsely requested content), resulting in a 401 error.

You should check and make sure you’re inserting the right URL in the address bar of your browser. It can be tiring to check each URL letter, including special symbols, characters, and numbers. But, that’s how you can be sure you’re using the right URL to access web resources.

Did you follow a hyperlink from another site or app? Check if they used links containing any typos. Sometimes, hyperlinks on other platforms and sites have incorrect or outdated URLs.

3. Flush the DNS Cache

Domain Name System, or “DNS,” records are also present in your device’s internal storage. Just like browser cookies and cache, DNS records can become outdated.

They contain information that matches your IP address (i.e., the client’s) to the reachable server’s URL faster.

The main purpose behind DNS records is to minimize the time it takes to load a specific URL on a server. Nonetheless, DNS records or DNS cache are similar to browser cookies and cache.

DNS cache is stored locally and works on the system level.

When the DNS cache becomes outdated and presents incorrect or corrupted URLs, it can trigger a 401 error. To solve the 401 error response, you can flush the DNS cache.

This means you will force your device to generate a new DNS cache by requesting and authenticating the correct URLs.

To flush an outdated DNS Cache on Windows:

1. Go to the desktop and click on the search bar
2. Search for “Command Prompt” and run the program
3. Type the command “ipconfig /flushdns” (notice the space between ipconfig and /flushdns)
4. Hit enter and you will see the message “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache”

4. Disable Several Modules, Themes, and Plug-ins

If you’re the administrator of the website showing the 401 error message, you can try disabling several modules, plugins, and themes. It will be easier to diagnose why the error keeps showing by uninstalling or disabling them on your website. 

Regardless of the CMS, plugins and extensions will add extra code to the website. In turn, that can trigger the 401 unauthorized error message.

For instance, you can disable and change to the default theme if you’re using WordPress CMS.

Follow these steps to solve the 401 error response by disabling plugins, themes, and modules:

1. Access the admin dashboard by entering credentials
2. Go to Appearance -> Themes
3. Click and activate the “default” theme
4. Then, go to Plugins -> Installed Plugins
5. Mark all plugins and click on “Deactivate” in the drop-down menu
6. Finally, click apply to disable all plugins

Conclusion

A 401 error will typically occur when your browser and the server can’t communicate or authenticate requests. Although this error message is quite annoying, it’s easy to fix.

Normally, using the four different methods listed above will solve the issue.

Understanding the error from its core will help you solve it easily. If all else fails, though, you can contact professional support to deal with the issue if you’re too inexperienced.

The post A Useful Guide to Diagnosing and Solving the 401 Error appeared first on GreenGeeks.