Blog
Notes from the field.
Short, practical pieces on the problems we fix most often. No trends, no fluff.
4 min
Spam Sent From Your Email? Here's What to Do
What a compromised hosting mailbox looks like from the server side, and the order to work through locking it down, cleaning it up and keeping it shut.
4 min
Five free checks before a new site goes live
Five free tools we run on every launch, in order, to catch broken links, certificate gaps, leftover staging settings and slow pages before visitors do.
4 min
Fixing Duplicate URLs on a WordPress Site
WordPress can serve one page at half a dozen addresses. Here is how we sort out duplicate URLs, canonical tags and redirects properly.
4 min
What File Permissions Should WordPress Use?
The file permissions WordPress needs on a cPanel account, why 777 is never the fix, and a ten-minute check you can run today.
3 min
Six settings we change on every new WordPress site
Six WordPress settings our team changes before a new site goes live, based on the support tickets we end up fixing when nobody does.
4 min
Which Search Console Numbers Actually Matter
How to read the Search Console performance report without chasing numbers that mean nothing, and what to fix once you spot a real problem.
4 min
Old Site Copies Are a Security Risk
Abandoned staging folders, /old directories and backup zips are a common way into a hosting account. Here is how to find and clear them out.
3 min
The questions we get about business email
Seven questions our support queue gets about business email on your own domain: IMAP or POP, aliases, forwarding, catch-all, quotas and moving mail.
4 min
Robots.txt mistakes that hide your pages
How robots.txt really works, the errors we find on live sites, and the short file most small business sites should be running instead.
4 min
Who Still Has Access to Your Website?
A quarterly access review takes about twenty minutes and closes the door on old developer accounts, stale FTP logins and shared passwords.
4 min
The accessibility tools we reach for
The browser extensions, the screen reader and the one free habit we open first when a site owner needs a straight answer about accessibility.
4 min
XML Sitemaps: What Actually Matters for Small Sites
A plain guide to XML sitemaps for small sites: what to include, which fields search engines ignore, and the server problems that break them.
4 min
How to Spot Phishing Emails About Your Site
Phishing aimed at website owners is specific and convincing. Here is how we tell a fake renewal, host or plugin email from a real one.
4 min
Five image habits that keep WordPress fast
Five image habits we use on real WordPress sites to cut page weight, from resizing before upload to cleaning out an overgrown media library.
4 min
Internal Linking for Small Business Sites
How to link your own pages together properly: where to add links, what anchor text to use, and the linking mistakes that quietly hold small sites back.
4 min
How to tell if a WordPress plugin is safe
Plugins are a common way WordPress sites get broken into. How to vet one before you install it, and how to spot the ones going quietly stale.
4 min
How to keep your domain name from being stolen
Domain hijacking usually starts at the registrar, not the server. Here is how to lock your domain, protect the account email and stay on top of renewals.
4 min
Contact Form 7 vs WPForms: what we see
Two WordPress form plugins compared from the server side: spam volume, mail delivery, page weight and whether the enquiry actually survives.
4 min
How to Read Search Console's Indexing Report
A plain walkthrough of the Page indexing report in Google Search Console: which statuses need fixing, which are noise, and what to check monthly.
1 min
Why your business email lands in spam (and the three records that fix it)
Most small-business email problems come down to three DNS records nobody set up. Here is what they are, what they do, and how to check yours in five minutes.
3 min
Five uptime tools for small sites
Five long-trusted monitoring tools that tell you a small site is down before your customers do, and what's actually worth an alert.
3 min
Redirects done right: moving pages without losing rankings
301s and 302s in plain terms, mapping old URLs to new ones, avoiding chains, and testing, so a site change does not throw away rankings.
3 min
What a hacked site looks like from the server side
The signs we see on our servers when a site is compromised, from outbound spam to rogue admins, and why cleanup fails without finding the way in.
3 min
Six lightweight WordPress themes that don't fight you
Six WordPress themes we see running fast on real servers, judged by CPU load and build speed instead of demo screenshots.
3 min
Local SEO for service businesses: the checklist
A practical local SEO checklist for service businesses: Business Profile, consistent contact details, reviews, service pages, local proof.
3 min
SSL beyond the padlock
Getting a certificate is the easy part: this Security Monday covers redirects, HSTS in plain terms, mixed content and keeping renewals boring.
3 min
Top 10 questions we get about moving hosts
The ten questions every site owner asks before switching hosts, answered plainly: downtime, email, DNS timing, and what we need from you.
3 min
Core Web Vitals without the jargon
LCP, CLS, and INP translated into what visitors actually feel, the usual culprits behind bad scores, and free ways to measure your site.
3 min
Backups that actually restore
A backup only counts if it restores, so this Security Monday covers restore testing, retention, offsite copies and what your host does and does not do.
3 min
Four backup plugins, compared from the restore side
We compare four WordPress backup plugins the way that matters: not how they back up, but how the restore goes at 2 a.m. when it counts.
3 min
Structured data for small sites: what's worth adding
Which schema types actually earn rich results for a small business site, which ones are safe to skip, and how to add them without bloat.
3 min
Nothing is broken: why you still need updates
Most hacked sites we clean up were running software with a known, already-patched hole, so here is how to update without fear of breaking things.
3 min
Seven free tools for checking your DNS and email
Seven free tools we use every day to diagnose DNS records, mail delivery, and certificates, and the exact question each one answers.
3 min
Titles and descriptions: the 20-minute SEO fix
A quick audit of page titles and meta descriptions is the fastest SEO win most small sites can get. Here is how to do it in 20 minutes.
3 min
Passkeys, 2FA and your hosting account
Your hosting account controls email, DNS and every file on your site, so here is how we lock ours down and who should still have access to yours.
3 min
Five caching plugins we actually see working
Five WordPress caching plugins that hold up on real shared hosting, when each one fits, and how to avoid caching the same page twice.
3 min
Site speed and SEO: what actually moves rankings
Speed is a tiebreaker in search, not a magic lever. Where hosting, caching, and images actually help, and when to stop optimizing.
3 min
The five WordPress security habits that stop most hacks
The five habits we see separating clean WordPress sites from hacked ones on our servers, and how to make each one part of your routine.
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