Is Your (Client's) Website Ready for 2017?

Three things you need to look at to avoid penalties from Google in 2017: HTTPS (a.k.a. SSL certificates), intrusive interstitials (a.k.a. popups), and whether to make use of Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) to speed up your mobile website. Learn why these things are important and how to set them up on WordPress. From the East Bay WordPress Meetup, January 15, 2017

Transcript

1. January 15,
   2017
   

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2. Schedule
   •Pizza. Please bring it into the meeting room.
   •Introductions
   •Demo: Merel Kennedy, MK Design
   •Demo: Rocky Butani, Private Lender Link
   •Main Presentation: Is Your Website Ready for
   2017?
   

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3. EastBayWP.com
   

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4. Our Meetup.com Page
   http://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/
   

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5. A Word from Our Sponsors
   

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6. Ongoing Sponsor: Pagely
   https://pagely.com/plans-pricing/managed-wordpress/
   

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7. Ongoing Sponsor: O’Reilly Media
   Use discount code PCBW for 40% off print & 50% off ebooks and videos on
   http://shop.oreilly.com.
   

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8. Today’s Pizza Sponsor: Lisa LaMagna
   http://lisalamagna.com
   

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9. Introductions
   Tell us your name and something about yourself, e.g.
   “I’m Sallie and I’m the organizer of this Meetup. I
   started working with WordPress in 2005.”
   

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10. Demo: MK Design
    http://merelkennedy.com/
    

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11. MK Design: WP Image Zoom Pro
    • Zooms automatically when
    you mouse over the image.
    • Requires large image uploads
    to work (2x or 3x).
    • Add class=“zoooom” to images
    or use visual editor button.
    • Free plugin (1 zoom per page)
    • Pro version ($48.90 for one
    site)
    

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12. Demo: Private Lender Link
    https://privatelenderlink.com/
    

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13. Private Lender Link: FacetWP
    • Premium Plugin from
    https://facetwp.com/buy/
    ($79 basic, $199 pro)
    • Filter search results by
    anything you can query.
    

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14. Is Your Website ready for 2017?
    Https, Interstitials, and AMP, oh my!
    

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15. HTTPS: Securing Your Site
    

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16. What Is HTTPS?
    “Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)
    is the secure version of HTTP. The 'S' at the
    end of HTTPS stands for 'Secure'. It means all
    communications between your browser and
    the website are encrypted.”
    https://www.instantssl.com/ssl-certificate-products/https.html
    

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17. HTTPS Requires an SSL Certificate
    “SSL” is really TLS (Transportation Layer Security)
    “An SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer), also called a
    Digital Certificate, creates a secure link between a website
    and a visitor's browser. By ensuring that all data passed
    between the two remains private and secure, SSL
    encryption prevents hackers from stealing private
    information such as credit card numbers, names and
    addresses.”
    http://www.networksolutions.com/education/what-is-an-ssl-certificate/
    

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18. You need HTTPS…
    •If you conduct financial transactions on your
    site—even with PayPal Standard (since 2016).
    •If anyone logs into your site, including you.
    •Because Google says so (since 2014).
    •Because WordPress says so (starting 2017).
    •Because you need it for HTTP/2.
    

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19. Good News: Free SSL Certificates
    

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20. Can You Use Free SSL?
    Yes, unless you need:
    Organization Validation (OV) SSL Certificates: where
    the CA checks the right of the applicant to use a
    specific domain name PLUS it conducts some
    vetting of the organization.
    Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates: where
    the Certificate Authority (CA) checks the right of the
    applicant to use a specific domain name PLUS it
    conducts a THOROUGH vetting of the organization.
    https://www.globalsign.com/en/ssl-information-center/types-of-ssl-certificate/
    

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21. What’s the Difference?
    Standard (DV) Certificate
    EV Certificate
    

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22. When Would You Need OV or EV?
    If you’re PayPal, eBay, a bank, or someone else whose
    site hackers are likely to spoof in order to conduct
    phishing attacks, you want one of these certificates.
    Before you can get one, you have to be able to
    demonstrate that you’re a legitimate business. For
    most purposes, including e-commerce, a DV certificate
    is fine.
    

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23. Chrome Warnings on Non-HTTPS Sites
    

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24. Get Let’s Encrypt
    • A2 Hosting
    • BlueHost (WP Only)
    • Cloudways
    • DreamHost
    • Flywheel
    • Pressable
    • Pressjitsu
    • SiteGround
    • WordPress.com
    • WP Engine
    Don’t see your
    hosting
    company? I
    might just have
    left it out, so
    contact support.
    

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25. Install This Plugin First
    https://wordpress.org/plugins-wp/really-simple-ssl/
    WP Engine has
    its own solution
    so don’t install
    this there.
    

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26. Set Up Let’s Encrypt on SiteGround
    

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27. Set Up Let’s Encrypt on DreamHost
    

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28. Set Up Let’s Encrypt on WP Engine
    

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29. Set Up Let’s Encrypt on Pressable
    

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30. Set Up Free SSL on BlueHost
    

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31. Set Up SSL with Cloudflare
    

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32. Making It All Work Automatically sets
    up a page rule so
    your admin is not
    cached. Use
    additional page rules
    to avoid caching
    your store.
    https://wordpress.org/plugins/cloudflare/
    

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33. HTTPS Rewrites with Cloudflare
    Too many levels of rewrites can
    cause redirect loops. If enabling
    this causes problems, disable it.
    

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34. Update Google Analytics
    • Set the default URL of your GA property to HTTPS
    

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35. Update Google Search Console
    Add all your website versions
    Make sure you add separate Search Console properties for all
    URL variations that your site supports, including https, http,
    www, and non-www.
    Select your preferred version
    Choose whether you want your site to appear with or without
    "www" in Google Search.
    Note: if you have verified ownership of the http version of your
    website, you won’t (usually) have to do it again.
    

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36. Update Other Links
    Check your email signature and links from your social
    profile, and update them to HTTPs.
    

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37. What to Do Next
    Set this up for yourself, then offer it as a
    service to clients (or invite the DIY types to
    do it themselves).
    Tutorial: How to Properly Migrate a WordPress Site to
    HTTPS
    

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38. Intrusive Interstitials
    Otherwise Known as Popups
    

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39. These Are Bad
    They cover the
    whole screen and
    are hard to dismiss
    on mobile. They
    interfere with
    accessibility. And
    they’re just a PITA.
    https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/08/helping-users-easily-access-content-on.html
    

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40. These Are Okay
    https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/08/helping-users-easily-access-content-on.html
    Legally required popups
    (such as for age-restricted
    sites or the European
    Cookie Law) will not be
    penalized. Small ads, inline
    ads, and exit-intent popups
    are acceptable.
    

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41. More About Interstitials
    • This only applies to mobile: we’re going to keep
    seeing obnoxious intersitials on our
    desktops/laptops.
    • Your email signup form and other offers for your
    own products are included.
    • The “interstitial” doesn’t have to be an actual popup:
    anything that covers the first screen visitors land on
    from a mobile search link counts.
    

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42. To Avoid Penalties, Make Sure…
    1. Popups are desktop only by Default
    2. Device Specific Display Rules
    3. Floating Bars are Mobile Optimized
    4. Use Smart Display Rule Triggers
    (Guidelines from OptinMonster)
    http://optinmonster.com/the-new-google-mobile-friendly-rules-for-popups/
    

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43. What to Do Next
    First check your own site. Then contact
    your clients to see whether they need
    help with their interstitials.
    

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44. Google AMP
    It’s all about Mobile Speed
    

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45. What Is AMP?
    

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46. Automattic’s AMP Plugin
    https://wordpress.org/plugins-wp/amp/
    

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47. More AMP Plugins
    • Glue for Yoast SEO & AMP (Supplement to
    Automattic plugin)
    • AMP for WP (Alternative to Automattic plugin)
    • AMP Supremacy (Alternative to Automattic Plugin)
    • Custom AMP (Alternative to Automattic plugin)
    • Facebook Instant Articles & Google AMP Pages by PageFrog
    (Alternative to Automattic Plugin)
    

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48. AMP Support on Cloudflare
    

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49. What Does AMP Look Like?
    Regular WP Post WP Post on AMP
    No subtitle
    Duplicate
    featured
    image
    Different
    fonts
    No background
    image
    No header or menu
    

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50. Do You Need AMP?
    Maybe. But you can have a fast mobile site
    without it.
    • Three reasons you might not need Google AMP after all
    • Do I Need AMP?
    • How to Set Up Google Amp for WordPress (And Why You
    Should)
    • Diving Into Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
    

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51. What Next?
    Seems to me it’s best to wait on this one and
    see how things develop, unless you’re a news
    organization publishing to other platforms.
    

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52. About Your Presenter
    @salliegoetsch on Twitter
    sallie@wpfangirl.com
    (510) 969-9947
    Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with ‘sketch’) built her first HTML
    website in 1994. Since discovering WordPress in 2005, she
    hasn’t looked back. Sallie became the organizer of the
    East Bay WordPress Meetup in Oakland, California, in
    2009.
    Sallie has produced WordPress videos for Peachpit Press,
    taught introductory WordPress classes for Mediabistro,
    and acted as Technical Reviewer for O’Reilly’s WordPress:
    The Missing Manual. She runs her WP Fangirl consulting
    and development business from her home and appears
    regularly on the WP-Tonic Live panel.
    

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