Everyone is then free to choose their domain name. However, because of its uniqueness, you can not choose a domain name already used by another person. So, it is necessary to check the availability of a domain name first of all.

CHOOSE AN AVAILABLE DOMAIN NAME

Why talk about “Availability” of a domain name ? Simply because domain is unique. A domain name is a succession of letters, adopted to facilitate access to a website for internet users, if at the beginning the addresses of the websites consisted of a succession of digits better known under the name of IP address. A website corresponds to a single IP, and therefore a unique domain name. Thus, it is not possible to choose a domain name already used.

A domain name consists of three parts: prefix, domain and suffix. If we take the example of www.mister-hosting.com, “.Com” is the suffix or first level, “mister-hosting” is the domain or the second level, and “www” is the prefix or 3^e level. From an availability point of view, the most important is the second level. It is this part that you will use for the popularity of your site and for your image. However, the association between the first two levels is also of paramount importance. Indeed, in theory, mister-hosting.fr for example is a domain name different from the original. So you have the option to choose it, even if mister-hosting.com already exists, provided of course that it is available in turn. Moreover, the 3^e level does not really matter. You can not choose mapage.mister-hosting.com for example, since everything is played at the level of the first two levels.

CHECK THE AVAILABILITY OF A DOMAIN NAME

So, how to make sure that a domain name already used or not? It’s not rocket science to know him! Just go to a website that offers this service, for free in most cases. To find one, just do a Google search for example. Otherwise, the majority of sites specializing in accommodation and domain names offer this service. Indeed, before to reserve a domain name, you must make sure that it is still available. And this is a step that the supplier imposes before allowing you to move forward in the buying process.

You can also learn more about a domain name with the Whois tools “. These tools, also free, inform you about a domain name (owner, contact of the latter, date of creation and expiry date of the subscription in progress …). Of course, these same tools warn you if the domain name is still available.

In addition, be aware that a domain name belongs to a person for one year. You have the possibility to renew this lease. However, when a domain name has expired and is abandoned by its owner, it falls into the public domain and is reachable for everyone. This time again, it is the law of the first comer which prevails.

IN CONCLUSION: HOW TO FIND A FREE DOMAIN NAME?

Go to the domain name reservation page of our site. From there, you have the possibility to choose between two methods. The first is to press the button “Order! “. The site will then guide you to a new page. On the left, enter your desired domain name, and press the button “Check availability”. The second method is to use the field “Find the ideal domain name”. This feature prompts you to enter the desired domain name in the field and will offer you in return the choices available in relation to the different extensions. If the domain is already in use, even in another extension, this feature gives you information about them marking in red.

L’article How to find a domain name available? est apparu en premier sur MisterHosting.com.

WHY IS THE LAYOUT OF YOUR MAIN PAGE IMPORTANT ON A WORDPRESS BLOG?

In many cases, visitors find your WordPress site from a link contained on another web page of another site, or from a response to a query on a search engine. Indeed, we assume that we are talking here about a blog, and that visitors came to your site related to a particular topic. This is how on a blog,every page is very important. If the visitor likes your content, he will continue the visit by going directly to the main page, and this is where he will decide whether or not he will linger on your site or not.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS FOR A WORDPRESS BLOG

The homepage of a blog has the primary role of inform the reader about the main theme conveyed through the different pages. However, there is no point in write a text of several hundred wordsa few tens are enough. Of course, this text must be keyword rich and follow the main rules in SEO.

But the most important part is the links to the different pages of your blog WordPress. THEthe reason for being a blog is indeed contained in these different pages, which convey different subjects on a specific theme. The homepage must therefore contain links that point to these different pages, more precisely the most important. Usually, the last new pages are listed first, but this is not an absolute rule.

It is important to focus on readability and ease of clicking on each item. In general, it is important to highlight them to allow visitors to quickly click on them. You can also attract visitors through link-titles that speak, but you can very well put summaries or pictures. This association title – summary – image is indeed very used and appreciated on WordPress blogs.

3 BLOG LAYOUTS THAT YOU CAN USE IN WORDPRESS

Of course, you have the Right to arrange and design your homepage according to your wishes. But here we present 3 types of themes, among the most used, which take up the association title – summary – image mentioned above.

1. Arrangement in lists of messages

A list remains the simpler and easier to read. A layout based on a list is usually a simple vertical succession of blog posts, which includes their titles, featured images and short excerpts from each. Each item in the list usually occupies the entire space between the two columns “left” and “right” of the page. This style may seem basicbut it offers lots of benefits.

A WordPress homepage based on a list:

• Is easy to read and facilitates navigation. The reader can quickly browse articles (mostly sorted in chronological order).
• Respect the tradition. Yes, everyone is used to this style of navigation. In addition, it is very suitable for mobile devices.
• Suitable for any screen width. Which is a more important since readers today use a multitude of screen resolutionsranging from small screens of mobile devices to large computer screens.

This style is used by many blogs. And “The simplest is often the best”. On the other hand, using this style of layout, there are fewer problems with updates of WordPress and its components.

2. Layouts based on grids or maps

For Grid or map layouts are modern and allow you to display many more messages on one page. How is it? Maps or grids are presented side by side on the homepage using a title, an image and a small excerpt.

A WordPress homepage based on a grid:

• Offers more space. The side-by-side approach allows readers to display multiple tickets on the main page when compared to a list.
• Offers more possibilities for customization. You can not only play with the design of the cards, but also that of the background and the interaction of the grids on it.

It’s important to specify that a layout based on grids works more with a logic : draw the reader’s attention by the pictures. Which is slightly different with the list style where the title (and sometimes the excerpt) prevails. it is only a logic based more on a habit than on a real logic. Just note that you should not put too many texts (extracts) in the cards to avoid overloading the presentation. This is how it is normal to focus a little more on images.

3. Masonry of cards

Arrangements in masonry style cards are becoming more common nowadays. It’s about a variant of the grid design. However, this time, the cards have different sizes. The first row is arranged in the same way. On the other hand, each card of the second row is placed where the cards above stop. So that the cards of the second row are not placed on the same line. In the end, we have the impression that the cards are arranged in the manner of a brick wall, hence the term ” masonry “.

A WordPress home page based on a masonry style:

• Is simply very beautiful to see (regardless of the general design of the site)
• Gives the reader a “modern” impression for your site. Indeed, this style abandons the idea of ​​the classic that can offer a grid for example.

L’article Lay out your wordpress blog articles? est apparu en premier sur MisterHosting.com.

Nowadays, WordPress actually holds about 25% of market share among the hundreds of CMS that exist. Note, however, that these numbers are only estimates. Indeed, no real solid base allows to define exactly the number of sites using WordPress. The only known data is the number of WordPress downloads that are close to reaching the 150 million of times. For comparison, Drupal which is the 2^eon this list holds just over 15 million downloads. In addition, there are currently download 2 000 themes and 27 000 WordPress plugins.

WordPress is an open source CMS that originated in 2003. Its strength lies in the great community that supports him, able to bring powerful new features to every major update, without neglecting plugins and themes. He became one of the most powerful, versatile, robust and user-friendly CMS that exists.

But really, why is WordPress so popular?

1. A FREE AND OPEN SOURCE CMS

The fact that WordPress is completely free has greatly contributed to its success. Free and open source, it is both a financial benefit to the user and an assurance of the motivations and performance of the community working behind it. Available for download absolutely free, it is not difficult to find. Most web hosts like Misterhosting for example, install the latest version of WordPress directly on your server with a single click, without any additional cost.

But in addition, most of the themes and plugins are free, despite some exceptions. If you have advanced knowledge in web, the source code is at your disposalyou can transform it as you please. If you need help installing or customizing your WordPress site, you have a whole community that can answer your question nicely, and for free, through hundreds of forums on the internet.

2. WORDPRESS PLUGINS

Not only are they free, but they are also very varied. Each user can customize his site as he wishes thanks to the plugins, very easy to install and implement. But the strength of WordPress plugin, it is their ability to operate autonomously, which means that users can use several according to their needs. Plugins can also be updated independently of the central kernel and vice versa, without the changes causing any problems to your site. And even if these rare cases happen, the need for maintenance is generally not very significant. But besides, you still have the possibility to modify the plugins since these are also open source, except of course for paid plugins (except for some after acquitting the license).

Here are some examples of plugins available for WordPress: photo slideshows, social media, forms, SEO, caching, security, e-commerce.

3. WORDPRESS THEMES

La availability of many themes (free and paid) has also made the popularity of WordPress. In addition, it is not you do not have to be a big connoisseur of web languages ​​to install a theme. You just have to download it, put it in the folder indicated and designate it in the parameters of your site. For a novice user, who only has the theme to customize for their website, this mode of operation is ideal. Even a novice web designer could make a professional website in a few minutes.

Most of the themes that the community currently offers are complete, from a visual and feature point of view. The themes are lightweight, built according to the recommendations and templates offered by WordPress himself. Themes are also (most of the time) tested and rated by other members of the community so you do not waste time with poor quality themes.

4. EASE OF USE

Anyone, even without basic knowledge of HTML or CSS, can build and maintain a site in minutes using WordPress. Just download it, install it, set up a few lines and you have a website that works. A default theme is even integrated and installed to allow you to go to the essentials of your settings, waiting to find better. Only basic features are installedbut they are good enough for the simplest version of your website. You can then customize it with themes and plugins on the internet. This has revolutionized the way the web works.

5. CMS VERSATILITY

At its beginnings, WordPress has been a CMS oriented blog. But with the arrival of many features, WordPress is suitable for the creating all types of imaginable websites. For example, if you want to set up an ecommerce site, you have the possibility to install the WooCommerce plugin.

6. SEO FRIENDLY

A very most web users do not understand how SEO works and why it’s so important And yet, this topic has become unavoidable nowadays, if you want your website to be visible.

WordPress has a note of 99% SEO friendly, without you having changed anything. It is well designed and easily adapts to search engine explorations. Your WordPress site loads very quickly, compliant with UX and coding standards, facilitates image optimization, includes tools to simplify social media integration and generate XML sitemaps.

In addition, there are plugins dedicated to SEO. The most popular is surely Yoast, a plugin that instantly analyzes your SEO score every time you enter a new page or blog post. And once again, Yoast is accessible to a novice.

L’article Why is WordPress so popular? est apparu en premier sur MisterHosting.com.

Note that URLs are always composed of four parts:

1. Le http:// we call protocol
2. Le www we call the prefix
3. Le domain (mister-hosting in our example)
4. The extension: .FR, .COM, .EU …

The URL of a site is a very important element that deserves a lot of thought even before the creation of your site. It has a marketing dimension, but also important SEO. But you can only advance that if you understand the true operation of these four parts.

However, before raising these four points, you are probably wondering what all these elements are for since if you only type mister-hosting.com, you go to the site you want. In reality, it’s not that these elements are useless, it’s only that your browser winks at you by adding the first two parts of the URL for you that you forgot to specify (usually the http: // and the www).

1. THE HTTP PROTOCOL

An internet protocol can result in the way in which two remote computers communicate, in this case your computer and the internet server that hosts the website that interests you. Note that there is several types of protocols, HTTP for websites, FTP for file transfers, POP and SMTP for emails …

The protocol HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is especially the one that interests us. When you type a URL in a web browser, your computer sends an HTTP request to the server hosting the site and the server will load.

Note that another protocol derived from HTTP is also frequently used for the web, the HTTPS which simply means secure HTTP. It works the same way, but uses encryption of all data exchanged between the server and your computer. Note that sites that use HTTPS are well seen by Google and benefit from a plus in relation to their positioning. However, it’s not a simple matter to change the HTTP to HTTPS, you have to go through several steps, including getting a SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer).

2. THE WWW PREFIX

www found in most URLs means “World Wide Web”. This prefix is ​​standard although it is not mandatory. In fact, you also have the right to put a word or letter sequence of your choice in its place. Only, tell yourself that it is more difficult for visitors to remember them, since they especially have this value stored in their heads.

the site fr.yahoo.com for example uses a different prefix, but is careful to configure a redirect if a user types yahoo.fr in his browser. This is done through configuration files of type .htaccess (for Apache servers).

Prefixes are usually used to display particular directories of a website, which is most often referred to as a subdomain. If, for example, you have a site whose the domain name is www.mysite.com, you will use the subdomain blog.monsite.com for the associated blog.

3. WHAT IS A DOMAIN NAME?

This is the most significant element of your URL, it’s the unique element. He must be chosen wisely. It must be memorable, very simple and must give an overview of your activity (recommended especially for commercial sites). Avoid domain names that are too long and difficult to remember. Avoid getting close to domain names already in use, especially if they are already popular, they may eject your site from the memory of users.

Because your domain name is uniqueyou must make sure that the one you have chosen is available. For this, you must use a registrar.

4. THE EXTENSION

It iss .com, .net, .fr … The extension is a kind of parent category of URLs. At the beginning of the internet, the extension was obligatorily composed of three letters. But nowadays, the rule has relaxed.

Extensions are not free. You must choose from a short list, which however has more than 500 possibilities. Some of these extensions are inaccessible to the general public, some are related to a country like .fr for France or .be for Belgium, and some are generic like .com (commercial) or .info (information).

The extensions are mostly determinants for SEO. Google gives more importance to a site .fr for example (between any list of parameters), if the user who sends the request is located in France. Also note that the prices of the extensions are different.

L’article Domain name definition – Mister Hosting est apparu en premier sur MisterHosting.com.

WHAT IS THE DECISIVE FACTOR WHEN IT COMES TO LOADING SPEED?

In order to have an optimal loading time, the size of your site’s files is paramount. Indeed, the browser downloads all the elements of a web page to display it: HTML code, CSS style sheet, scripts and images. The more data and the more data, the longer the loading time will be.

At a time when your visitors want their page to be displayed in less than a second, it is essentialoptimize your files so that your page loads as quickly as possible.

WHY REDUCE THE LOADING TIME OF YOUR WEB PAGES?

Another factor that should convince you to optimize your files: Google, which is concerned, the health and the good mood of the Net surfers watch over this detail, to the point of penalizing sites that do not load as fast as his comrades. As well as the algorithm that it uses does not just calculate the loading speed of a site, but analyzes up to unnecessary scripts or scripts that pose problem, which cause wasted time, even if these problems in question are completely invisible to the user. Thus, it is imperative to ensure that our web pages load quickly and correctly.

We will introduce you in this article three interesting tools to test the load times of your website. These of course indicate how long your page takes to load, but also offers in-depth analyzes that explain their slowness. Of course, from the results of these analyzes, you have the possibility to draw conclusions about the way and means you have in hand to improve your site.

HOW TO EVALUATE THE SPEED OF A WEBSITE?

Pingdom tools

Excellent analysis tool, Pingdom Tools gives you information on the loading time of your website but at the same time compares this performance to other sites that the tool has already analyzed. To begin, you have to go to the home page of the site and type in the indicated place the URL of the website you want to test. The tool also asks you to choose one of the servers offered by the site, thus simulating the visitor’s geographical position. Of course, the best result will be obtained if you choose the server closest to your site, specifically your web host and not your home.

You can then launch the tool and your results will be available shortly. However, it may happen that Pingdom Tools asks you to wait for other sites that came before you to be scanned.

In the upper part of the results, you have the numbers that correspond to the loading time of your site as well as its size, the general performance (explained later on the page), the ranking of your site compared to the other sites analyzed with the toolthe number of requests needed to load the page and the server used.

Further, you will have a list of points that the tool advises you to review, with respective notes, to improve your site. Next comes a list of error codes, file and query types, secondary sites contacted when the page is loaded, and especially a flowchart showing all the elements and the respective loading times.

GTmetrix

GTmetrix is a tool that looks a lot like Pingdom Tools. The same features are usually found, including the overall performance of the site in the first place including the loading speed and the size of the site. We also have an overall performance compared to other websites that the tool has already analyzed, expressed as a percentage.

However, GTMetrix presents its results pages differently than the first tool, using multiple tabs instead of stretching the page down. But we also note that GTmetrix is ​​making additional efforts in terms of details on the results. We thus have more explanation on what slows down our pages. Each heading corresponds to a small arrow that will indicate, by clicking on it, the tips of the tool as to the possible improvement for this particular heading. In addition, you have access to a button “What’s this mean? Which gives you even more explanation, this time of a general nature.

Note that GTMetrix offers a paid version of its tool, with much more elaborate features, what GTMetrix puts a little too much on these pages of results. However, most experts say that the results provided by its free version are quite relevant to improve its site.

WebPagetest

This third tool is WebPagetest seems more evolved compared to the first two. First, when you start the test, you have the choice between several options, mostly having very different results. For example, you will have the opportunity to choose between an advanced search in three attempts depending on the browser you want. You can also perform a test according to the hardware used by the user, a computer or a mobile 4G, 3G … You will also have the opportunity to compare several websites at the same time.

The precise result page in the first place the health of your site according to a game of color, green or red. By clicking on each item you will have the chance to know which side the test failed in some way, with specific details on the problems encountered and the recommendations to improve your site.

Below you have the choice between 7 tabs that give you precise details about the scripts and files that were needed to load your page. You will also have details on what has slowed down the loading of your page, as well as any problems.

L’article 3 tools to optimize loading time est apparu en premier sur MisterHosting.com.