Website Design

Fixing OptimizePress After Adding SSL to Your Website

Kim · February 22, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Yesterday I added an SSL certificate to a client’s website. This client has OptimizePress already installed and dozens of opt-in pages and sales pages previously created using the OptimizePress plugin. Adding the SSL certificate, which was done with a SiteGround plugin that automated the entire process, went smoothly, until…

I immediately got an alert that OptimizePress key was not working. So I figured it was because of the switch from http to https. Yep…just needed to re-save the current key and all was well.

But…

After I did that, the green padlock symbol changed to gray with a red slash through it. Sigh.

So obviously that had to do with OptimizePress also. I realized it didn’t update the links and locations that are in those pages. Ugh… I really didn’t want this 5 minute task to turn into a 5 hour chore of digging through ALL of those pages to update each individual image and link.

Realizing that others likely had the same problem, and hoping for an easy solution, I went to the OptimizePress support page and quickly found what was needed.

Here are the steps to resolve SSL security issues with OptimizePress after installing a new certificate on a site with older pages.

First, re-save the general dashboard settings of OptimizePress, which will re-validate your API key.

Now, you will need to download the Helper Tools plugin that OptimizePress has created to update links and images after you migrate a site to a new URL. It will work the same for this SSL purpose. Click here to access those instructions and the plugin.

It will download a .zip file. Save this to your computer, do not unzip it.

Go to the plugins areas of the website you are working on. Install the plugin by uploading it. Activate the plugin.

On the left side dashboard menu, go to Tools and then OP Helper Tools.

Click on Migrations.

In the entry for “Old domain”, type in your domain without the SSL certificate. Example: http://ponytailedprofessional.com.

In the entry for “New domain” type in your domain with the SSL certificate. Example: https://ponytailedprofessional.com.

Click migrate domain.

You will see a notification of the number of links that were updated and the lock symbol next to the URL in your browser should turn green immediately.

That’s it! I hope this worked well for you. I’d love to hear your comments. If you run into problems, feel free to ask.

Tootles!

Resort websites and why can’t I find what I am looking for???

Kim · February 8, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Just how important is it to have an impressive website? How many potential customers do you lose because your website looks like crap? Have you ever asked yourself this question before?

I found myself on the other end of that last night. I’ve been thinking of planning a fun family vacation for this summer and was looking for some resort properties near an amusement park not terribly far from my home. My first choice is Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO, because its just a few hours away and we could likely put season tickets to use at other times during the year.

Last night, I was searching for a resort property that we could use for a big family vacation for about a week this summer. Instead of finding one, I simply became a bit flustered at the atrocious websites I encountered in my search!

Perhaps because I am a webdesigner, I simply look poorly upon any business that has an awful website. Some of these sites look like an elementary student put them together or like they hadn’t been updated in 10 years. Is it really that hard to have a good website?

The majority of these sites were obviously hosted on a free platform because they had random and very prominent advertising for other locations. They also had teeny tiny pictures of their properties, and few were of anything other than some landscaping or a general shot of Table Rock Lake.

A few had some Silver Dollar City or Branson show packages, but still most had no detailed information or good pictures of their properties. I mean, really? They would do better having JUST a Facebook page! And I didn’t find more than a couple of those either!

Really, the only good websites belonged to major hotel chains or resorts on the other side of Branson, which are not what I am looking for! I want a nice little cabin or condo in a resort that is relaxing, has a balcony or deck, kitchen, activities for the kids, shuttle service to the amusement park, and would feel like a home away from home. I KNOW they exist! But I sure couldn’t find any good information on them.

You would think in a place like Branson, that is lately dubbed one of the top vacation destinations in the US, that people would put a bit of money into internet marketing. I guess I’m wrong on that point!

But let’s look at it. At the very least, you can have a functioning attractive WordPress site for less than $10 a month in hosting. There are tons of ready-made templates that are free and that can be installed with just a click of a button. They are no more difficult to add content to than using the various software that any business owner is familiar with. They are very user-friendly and good for those who have no tech skills at all.

Or a business owner could step it up a little and get a customized WordPress site professionally done for anywhere in the ballpark of $100 to $1000. That would be a one-time expense, at least one-time every few years when the design gets outdated. Maybe a few hours of tutoring, or simply finding a good WordPress tutorial, and then the ongoing cost would still be just that $10 a month in hosting! Or they could even hire someone to manage their content, most likely at a cost of less than $50 a week. So for an investment of less than $2000 any of these resorts could have an amazing website, optimized to be found by vacation seekers, and with all of the information that these vacationers need! I would imagine that would pay for itself in a week once spring gets here.

So I ask myself again, is it really that hard to have a website where I can figure out if I want to stay at your resort?? Maybe I need to send some of my own marketing materials their way…

What’s all this about WordPress websites anyway?

Kim · January 13, 2014 · Leave a Comment

If you have ever looked at the back of a website you saw some pretty strange looking stuff. That stuff is the language that makes it work, the language that creates the beauty your eyes see on the screen, the language that makes a contact form or an opt-in form actually do something.

Before you saw it, you may have thought building a website was as simple as building a document in Word or Publisher. Then you saw all that code, as it’s generally called, and panicked.

Shocked at the appearance of html

So you hired a tech nerd to build you a fabulous website with all the bells and whistles, or maybe just a few, but it was yours and you loved it.

But after a while your site started to look outdated. Or you moved your office and simply needed to change your address without paying your web tech $1000 to do so. Or you wondered why you still weren’t ranking high on Google. You kept hearing about blogs and why you need to have one. So you started to investigate how you could fix all of those problems yourself and you heard about WordPress.

In its early days, WordPress was mostly just a basic blog tool. Then major companies started to take note of the brilliance and the possibilities that are WordPress. And brilliant minds started to build off the work of other brilliant minds. And today, just over 10 years later, we have a tool that is nearly perfect for not only blogging, but full-fledged professional websites as well.

Many of the websites you visit during your daily internet use are built on WordPress. And many more are being built on it every day.

WordPress creates a website that is user friendly for both the person adding pages and blog posts and the person viewing the site. It is optimized for SEO, that’s how Google finds you, out of the box as much as possible. And it is beautiful, with thousands of free and premium themes available for use as-is or with any amount of customization.

WordPress is quite possibly the perfect website tool.

Out of the box, most of the newer themes are modern, sleek, and down-right beautiful. You can install it, add a few plugins perhaps, and start writing pages and blog posts to your heart’s content. You can add a header, change some colors and make it yours. Or you can start with a basic theme and make it look 100% different! It is entirely up to you what happens with your WordPress website.

Want a great design based on another website even a Photoshop design someone created for you? That’s possible as well. Want a site where every page looks different, or a set of pages look different from the rest? Again, completely possible. Your imagination is the limit.

Need help? Just ask. 🙂

Trying to figure out what theme is best for your needs? Download my free report on choosing the best theme for your site by filling out the form below.

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