Nate Covington

Web host agrees to pay $1m after it’s hit by Linux-targeting ransomware

What would you do if YOUR computer were hit by this type of ransomware?
What if your computer were stolen?
What if your building burns down?  

The advantage of using an SSL certificate with your website is the ‘green lock’ symbol that visitors get when browsing your site:

Rather than this:

For years now, Google has been encouraging all websites to switch from HTTP to secure HTTPS (SSL).

Editor's Note:
I'm posting this article because it goes into a fair amount of detail about how a web site's hosting account and how its various parts are configured play an important role in handling large spikes in traffic.  Most of my clients never encounter this type of a problem.  It's always good to be ready.  If you're not sure if your hosting account is set up to handle large bursts in traffic, let me know, and I'll put together some recommendations.  For most folks, enabling caching is going to be sufficient.  Others might appreciate the extra protection provided by a service like CloudFlare.

Millions relied on Space City Weather—here’s the configuration that weathered Hurricane Harvey.

HOUSTON—I had enough to worry about as Hurricane Harvey plowed into the Texas Gulf Coast on the night of August 25 and delivered a category 4 punch to the nearby city of Rockport. But I simultaneously faced a different kind of storm: an unexpected surge of traffic hitting the Space City Weather Web server. This was the first of what would turn into several very long and restless nights.

I recently switched a client's site from HTTP to HTTPS (SSL encryption) and needed to come up with a solution to their "social sharing counts" resetting to zero.  This is not a flaw or bug, it's working as it was intended.  

Here is how it works.  When you share a page via social media, it uses its URL:
http://www.yoursite.com/the-page-you-are-sharing

When you switch to SSL / HTTPS, your URL changes, similar to if your domain name changes altogether:
https://www.yoursite.com/the-page-you-are-sharing

With the new URL, you lose all of your social sharing counts, a source of major pride (and potential profits).  

My wife and I have been avid iPhone users for a decade.  We recently switched over to Android and I wanted to write up this post to share my thoughts and findings.  

First, Why?

We recently learned about these new Huawei phones and did some research on our own.  We wound up purchasing matching Huawei Honor 8's.  First, the specs are great.  They stand up spec-per-dollar wise when compared to iPhone 6s, which was going to be the iPhone that we went with if we stayed in Apple's ecosystem.  The iPhone 7 doesn't have a headphone jack and that was a deal breaker for us.  The Honor 8's have a 'full' 1080-resolution screen squeezed into 5.2 inches.  This basically means that the screen is a little larger than our old phones, but the clarity is amazing.  Huawei has openly stated that they intend to compete with Apple and Samsung, head on.  I personally believe they will be successful.  

After going through a rebrand, the organization needed a website refresh that reflected our new direction. Although the site was built by someone else, Nate was able to create a custom landing page that addressed the intricate structure of the organization. Throughout the process, Nate went above and beyond to address our concerns and questions and provided us with training so that we could continue to manage the website on a day to day basis. I also appreciate how accessible Nate was and his quick turnaround on edits.

- Kathleen, Marketing Strategist

This article was originally posted on SearchEngineLand.com

Google often provides useful information to the SEO community, but columnist Nate Dame argues that ultimately, the company's advice is in their best interest, not yours -- so make sure you understand the nuances.

Last month, Google released a video detailing best practices for hiring an SEO company, and it is positioned to become the go-to guide for hiring an SEO. After all, who better to tell companies what they should look for in an SEO than the operators of the world’s most popular search engine?

Starting in January 2017, any website with a "login" form visible (e.g. Client Logins, Shopping Carts, etc) will show an "insecure" message in the browser's address bar if the site does not have an SSL certificate properly installed and configured.

Particularly for my clients that are security-minded, it's important to consider how to proceed with this information.  Some of my clients already have SSL certificates running on their sites, even ones that don't process credit cards.  For clients who already process credit cards, their sites already have the necessary SSL encryption certificate (https), so this is a non-issue. 

I had been researching this issue for a client and wanted to share it with everyone.  My client and I had been discussing the ability to collect recurring payments via PayPal WITHOUT requiring the user to have an actual PayPal account.