OptimizePress

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!

Landing pages, sales pages, opt in pages…whatever you want to call them and whatever their purpose, they are a vital part of any online business these days. And often you are connecting them to an ad, hoping to boost the conversion of whatever product or event you are selling or giving away.

And this is sometimes where the trouble begins.

Sitting down to check how well your ads are doing and finding that not only has your ad not been approved, but that you have been axed as an account, can certainly make you feel a little like this:

So avoid it. Follow the rules from the start.

As someone who has gotten my entire ad account banned from Facebook (and reinstated, thank goodness!), I at first found the requirements rather vague and rather ridiculous.

But they are there for a reason, and its a very good reason! They simply are trying to protect the consumer.

Should they be a little more forgiving the folks who are new to the ad business? Of course they should! I have no idea why they aren’t. Seems like shooting yourself in the foot to ban someone who is trying to give you money. But, for whatever reason, it is what it is.

The good folks at Digital Marketer just put out an article that lays out everything your landing pages need to be compliant with Google Ads. Now, maybe you aren’t running a Google Ad…this still applies. Their logic is that Google Ads is the strictist ad system out there and if you comply with Google, you will comply with the others by default. Plus the others, like Facebook, might update their requirements to closer fit Google’s any day now. Better to not be caught off guard!

Stop tailoring different landing pages to different ad networks based on compliance. Pick the strictest one and develop all your pages with that as the baseline.
Not only will this save you time and help you better organize your landing pages, it protects you when less strict networks, e.g., Facebook, decide to change their terms!
Google is hands down the stricter of the ad networks… source: Digital Marketer

A couple of the more surprising compliance items include:

Put your logo in the header and make it clickable. WHAT??? That goes against everything we have been taught! They’ve got some good reasoning though. And Google wants it.
Footer navigation that includes About Us, Privacy, Terms and Contact Us. The logic here being that not only should you make your privacy and terms easily readable, but you should also be able to prove you are a real site.
Detailed opt in expectations. No, “we promise not to send you spam” does not cut it. According to the guidelines, you need to actually make it clear that you are going to be not only sending them what they opted in for, but that you are going to be sending your newsletter and other offers to them as well. To me, this seems like a no-brainer that OF COURSE you will be doing that. Unfortunately there are lots of folks who just don’t get it.
And that includes having a link to your privacy policy under each opt in button, not just at the bottom of your page.

Check out the original article, The 9-Point Google Compliant Landing Page Checklist, here. It is well worth reading several times and digesting every tidbit. These are 9 points you do not want to miss if you are going to be promoting your landing page with ads, plus detailed examples of “done well” and “not so well” with pictures like this one:

And they even share what they have done wrong on THEIR OWN landing pages!

Plus they are giving you a handy printable checklist to keep for future reference.

Click here to read it all. Seriously…devour this information. You will thank me for sharing I’m sure! 🙂