Are you ready for WordPress 4.0?
Upgrading is great but it can cause many headaches!
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WordPress 4.0 is out, which means themes and plugins everywhere are releasing updates as well. While updating your site is the best way to keep it secure, there is so much that can go wrong during an upgrade. Many WordPress users avoid clicking the update buttons to avoid this, but they are just leaving themselves vulnerable to attack! What they should be doing instead is upgrading in a safe and controlled manner that protects their site and keeps it running smoothly.
What can go wrong in an upgrade?
- Your site could break.
- You could find yourself unable to log in.
- You could have plugins not compatible with a new version.
- You could find the "white screen of death" instead of your site.
- Your site could not function as well as it did in the past.
- The layout can change on you and rearrange everything.
WordPress 3.8, 3.9 and 4.0 also represent major upgrades of earlier versions of WordPress, so the likelihood of problems from earlier versions grows. To make matters worse, coding practices have changed drastically in the same time period, and you may have other problems with your site that you weren’t even aware of!
That is why I have created this update package for you, so that you don’t have to worry about any of this. While I’m in there updating everything, I’m also going to also make sure you are safe, secured, backed up, and ready to rock!
What can happen with an outdated and unsecured site?
- You may be unable to update. If you get too far behind in your updates, your only option will be to rebuild completely.
- Your data could be lost. While I try my best to recover all data after a hack, there are times when you just can’t repair what was lost.
- Your site is open to vulnerabilities. Updating your WordPress, themes and plugins keeps you safe because the developers of the software release updates when holes are discovered. Some updates, sure, are just feature additions — but some are very serious security updates.
- Your hosting account can be hijacked. Hackers can turn your entire site into spam mini-sites, hijacking your domain and slowing down your own site.
- Hackers could steal your data. Injected code can allow hackers to mine your clients’ information from your webforms or database.
- Your private course materials could become public. You could end up finding all your private course materials — PDFs, MP3s, videos — floating around on hacker sites or on Google.
- Your clients’ information could be leaked. Sure you put up a notice saying that you won’t sell e-mail addresses to a 3rd party — but the hacker who is intercepting all of your submissions will be happy to sell off e-mail addresses.
- Your site could be blacklisted. Once a site is blacklisted, it is hard to get off. Your site will be blocked by virus software, search engines, and more.
Just how bad can it get when your site isn’t properly secured? I asked a client of mine to share her own experience with being hacked after she had to have her whole hosting account (multiple sites!) cleaned and repaired:
As a super-small business owner, I got stuck in a scary website situation last month. The company who hosted my websites did a lousy job of keeping their servers safe. I had no idea what that meant for a long time, but the result is this:
I got a whole bunch of emails from the company telling me that "During a recent security scan we have identified that one or more of your hosted sites show signs of being compromised as they are hosting known, malicious web-based backdoors."
Since I had no idea what that meant, and my website was still working, I ignored them for awhile. Eventually I figured it must be a real issue (since I kept getting emails), so I purchased the malware scanner they suggested. But when I ran the program, it told me my sites were fine. So I went about my day. (Yes, I know this was dumb.)
Then the crap hit the fan. My emails weren’t getting through to the intended recipient. I kept getting weird "link removal requests" from wacky websites and the "security alerts" were coming hard and fast.
I checked in with my web designer who sent me to Nikole. Just. In. Time. Turns out I was in serious danger of being blacklisted (aka google thought I was an icky spammer). Nikole cleaned it up. She moved me to a different host, cleaned it all up, and my sites probably won’t explode now.
More importantly, Nikole handled it quickly, affordably, and helped me to understand the process. Now that I know the value of managed hosting (and how bad, bad, bad the situation could’ve gotten) I’ll never go back to trying to handle it on my own. She really is That Super Girl.
— Allissa
What You Get
Here’s what you get when you get Full Update Service from That Super Girl:
- Update of Your WordPress, Themes, Plugins and Add-ons If an update it is available, I will update it. I will even find the ones that don’t have easy update buttons by looking up the changelog of every plugin and your theme.
- Creation of Snapshot Backups I will create a backup after each step of the update so that the site can be reverted to an earlier version at each step.
- Audit of Your Files I will look through your site to see if any of your files and directories have anything suspicious in them.
- Update and Audit of Your Database I’ll look for any suspicious lines of code or errors that would indicate a security risk and clean out any unnecessary bulk.
- Installation, Licensing & Setup of a Premium WordPress Security Plugin (an $80 value) This plugin will monitor and report any suspicious activity on your site, e-mailing you if any issues come up.
- Installation, Licensing & Setup of a Premium WordPress Backup Plugin (an $80 value) This plugin will make routine backups of all your important website files, allowing you to revert to the previous backup if any issues occur. Additionally, you may use this plugin to do a manual backup before you install anything new or update your website.
- Audit of Your Plugins, Themes & Hosting I’ll analyze your current installation to see if any of the technologies you are using could be replaced by more secure options.
- Hardening of Your WordPress Install I’ll replace your admin login, change your database table names, or whatever else needs to be done to secure and lock down your site.
- Automatic 24/7 Monitoring I’ll make your site work for you, notifying you whenever it detects a problem so that you can stay ahead of trouble before it starts.
- Site Speed Analysis I’ll analyze your site loading pattern and speed, and let you know what you can do to help your site load faster.
- Error Log Reading I’ll look through your server, WordPress and other error logs to see if you should be concerned about any problems are cropping up.
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Avoid infection and search engine blacklisting
by auditing, updating, backing up, & securing your site today!
For only $250
UPDATE & SECURE ME!
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Why do you need a Full Update Service?
This service protects you from the baddies of the internet, like the ones that attacked this client’s WooCommerce site:
Clueless. That is the best word to sum up what I know about website security. And when I think about learning about website security, I want to crawl up into a tiny ball in the corner and whimper like a sad puppy.
Before I got help from Nikole I felt ultra vulnerable (probably because I was, lol). And scared that I would never rid myself of the problem… and never have the website of my dreams. I mean, who wants to send their customers to a spam infested site? Ew! I can’t even imagine how many customers ended up on a foreign site. Ugh, how embarrassing. I must have sent potential customers running in the opposite direction. I hope I didn’t do too much damage to my reputation!
When I took action against spammy content in the past, I felt like I was putting a band-aid on a much larger (possibly gushing) wound because I knew that I didn’t fully understand what actually happened (nor did I have time to learn). I knew I was taking a shortcut, I knew I could do better, but I didn’t have the time (actually, again, the thought of learning site security in depth makes me want to rip my own eyes out).
SO! Needless to say, I was really excited when Nikole jumped in to help me. And even more excited when I visited Nikole’s site and realized that’s kinda what she does… and even more excited when I realized I didn’t have to do it myself. What a freakin relief! I even told my husband that night at dinner, “If it weren’t for Nikole, I’d be pulling the rest of my hair out right now.” I never had the money to pay for this service in the past but holy shite, what a sigh of relief knowing an expert was on it. That feeling of relief and peace of mind was well worth the cost.
Now that my website has been dragged out of the pits of what seemed to be a dark and slimy hole, I feel like my website has a fighting chance to be everything I wanted (but with a viking shield). I look forward to learning how to maintain a secure site and I feel confident that with Nikole in my corner, my website can be super secure and never be riddled with internet cooties again! 🙂
— Valerie
Her site had been taken over by spammers, who had set up over 30 spam mini-sites on her hosting account — including a whole new WordPress install that she didn’t even know about! It was so bad that every piece of software on her site had to be replaced with a fresh version on a new server to get away from it.
On top of keeping your site secure, your update service will save you the time & hassle of navigating the update process yourself WHILE letting you feel safe in knowing that your site is being taken care of!
Don’t wait until you get hacked —
Save money (and your site) by updating & securing it today!
For only $250
Frequently Asked Questions
What information do I need to provide to get this done?
I will send you an e-mail outlining what I need after purchase, but in general you will need to gather your logins — such as FTP, cpanel/hosting, and WordPress.
Will this work on any website?
You need a self-hosted WordPress install on your own hosting account to use this service. If your hosting provider blocks backups or doesn’t meet the needs of a secure site, I will notify you and advise a course of action. You will also need WordPress 3.8.x or 3.9.x to be able to update at this price. If you have a version below that which can be updated, I can do it — but it may require additional costs. Note: This service does not work with GoDaddy hosting. If you have GoDaddy hosting and want to optimize your site’s security and performance, please contact me to discuss a site move.
Can you update my paid plugins or a custom theme?
If your theme has custom coding and needs to be updated, I can assist with that but there may be additional costs involved. If you have a paid plugin that has an update available and you need that update, you will have to purchase a new license for the plugin to update it. But then, yes, I will update it.
How long does my BackupBuddy license last?
It will continue to auto-renew for you, allowing you to update it, for the life of my company.
How long are security issues monitored?
Your site will pop off e-mails to me about file changes and security issues until you close your site, uninstall the plugin, or remove my email address off the plugin. If the warnings contain anything important, I’ll notify you.
How long does this take to complete?
Unless something goes very wrong, your site will be fully good to go within 3 business days.
What happens if you find a major problem?
I will let you know if any major issues exist on your site, as well as give you options on what you can do to fix them.
Can I schedule my update?
Of course! In fact, I recommend it. If you have a blog post coming up, a launch looming, or a heavy writing day, you probably don’t want the work completed then. Just let me know what day is good for you, and we’ll do it then. I’m also available in the evenings and on weekends to do these projects, so we can definitely find a time that will cause the least amount of inconvenience for you.
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Update & secure your site today
to protect your greatest business asset!
For only $250
If you have any questions that did not get answered here, just ask!