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Complete cPanel Tutorial

Everything you need to know about cPanel

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cPanel was created in 1996 by John Nick Koston, former owner of now out-of-business firm Speed Hosting. It was developed to service their Linux servers at the time being. Today, cPanel has grown into a standard for managing all kinds of Linux hosting servers. The straightforward UI of cPanel and the simplicity of installing apps has been the number one factor for their success.

What is cPanel?

The cPanel meaning is about as simple as cPanel itself, as its name is derived from the two words that describe what it is: a control panel.

cPanel Definition

Functioning as a control panel, cPanel is what allows you to manage every part of your hosting account. It is a Linux-based control panel that simplifies everything that goes into hosting a web site.

There is so much you can do with cPanel, including:

How Does cPanel Work?

cPanel is the control panel that gives you a simple interface to help you do things you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do without knowledge of programming.
With cPanel, your web server is much easier to manage.

How To Use cPanel

When using cPanel for the first time, the task can seem overwhelming and complicated. Fortunately, this cPanel tutorial for beginners makes the entire process easy from start to finish and shows you exactly why cPanel is the must-have tool for building and managing your own web site.

Logging In


If you’re logging in for the first time, you should have a username and password that was given to you by your hosting provider. I most cases, the hosting provider you are using should give you a link to your cPanel when you sign into your hosting account.

The quickest and easiest way to use your cPanel.com login is to enter your web address into the search bar, then add :2082 for unsecured or :2083 for secured. You’ll then be prompted to enter your username and password.

Once you have logged in, you should see the main cPanel interface. The interface was updated in 2015 to a theme called “Paper Lantern” to ensure things look as organized as possible.

To make sure your cPanel interface is set up to reflect the most recent updates, locate the “Preferences” section of the Home page near the bottom, and select “Change Style.” If the current style is listed as “Basic” you are already good to go.

cpanel searchbar

At the top of cPanel, right below the navigation bar, you should find a search bar. You can use this helpful tool to find what you need in seconds.

In the top right corner of your screen, you should find the navigation bar. Included in the navigation bar are “Search Features”, Account Management, Notifications, and Logout. Keep in mind however, some web hosts might have added a touch of their own modifications here.

Account Management

Within the account management function, you can change your password, style, contact information, or language. They even make it easy to reset the page with the click of a button.

Notifications

With this feature, you will be notified of important updates from cPanel, including security issues, applications that have expired, or other pertinent information.

On the left side of the screen, you should find a sidebar with four graphics. Beginning from the top, these icons represent Home, Statistics, Dashboard, and User Management.

Home

This is the primary page of your cPanel where you can find most of your applications.

Statistics

This feature will show you important information related to numbers, including:

  • How many email accounts you have
  • File transfer protocol (FTP) accounts and domain names you have
  • How much bandwidth and disk space you are using
Dashboard

This is a quick way to locate links to some of the more often-utilized parts of your website. Here, you can also look at your bandwidth and disk space usage, as well as mail statistics.

User Management

Here, you can add or remove users from the account. Additionally, you can see the email accounts you have created as well as who can access your web disk and FTP. This is especially helpful for those who share their account with other admins or users.

Reorganizing Your Home Page

To make your home page easier to navigate, you can minimize the sections you aren’t using by clicking the “-” sign located in the top right corner. You can also drag and drop a full section to reorganize your home page and change the order in which your sections are read. It may be beneficial to place the sections you use first at the top.

Updating Your Preferences

When you first log in to cPanel, you will want to update your contact information and change your password in the Preferences section.

How To Change Your Password

For security purposes, it is highly recommended to change your password at least every three months. This way, your site is better protected against hacking.

To change your password, click “Password & Security” and enter your old password. Then, select a new, secure password. For an easy way to generate an incredibly strong password, user the “Password Generator.” Just be sure to write your password down somewhere safe so you don’t forget it.

How To Update Your Contact Information

When using cPanel, it’s important to provide an email that is not attached to the domain name you are using, to receive necessary updates. To do this, click “Contact Information.”

You should find all the boxes under “Contact Preferences” checked. It is highly recommended that you leave all the boxes checked to ensure you don’t miss an important update or notification. Such alerts include suspicious activity or a problem with your hosting.

How To Add A New User

If you want to give another person access to make changes to your account, you will need to add a new user. To do so, click the “User Manager” icon in the Preferences section.

On the next screen, you will see all the accounts that have been created for your cPanel. There are three images next to each account:

  • The mail envelope shows the account has a cPanel email account associated with it.
  • The delivery truck shows the account has access to FTP.
  • The disc drive means that user can use the web disk services

Here, you can edit any user, change their password, or delete them completely, using the options listed below their name.

To add a new user, find the “Add User” button in the top right corner and click on it. Then, add the user’s full name, the preferred username, the domain the user is associated with, and an alternative email that can be used to reach the user.

You will also be prompted to create a password for the user. Create a password that is unique to that user and different from the other users on your account.

Then, find a section called “Services.” In this section, you’ll find the following essential settings:

  • Email: Here you can enable or disable email account soft users once they are created, and set a limit for the amount of space each account has.
  • FTP: This function allows you to enable or disable accounts from being able to access File Transfer Protocol that allows them to upload files to your site. You can select what directory they will be able to access and limit the space they can use.
  • Web Disk: These permissions should be accessed only by top-level admin accounts. “Read-Write” level access allows the user to do essentially whatever they want, within a set directory, while Read-Only allows reading, listing, and downloading files.

Once you have finished those settings, click “Create” or “Create and Add Another” on the left, bottom corner of the page. This will save the new account.

Managing Domain Names

manage domain names with cpanel

The “Domains” part of cPanel is where you will go whenever you need to add a domain name that you have purchased to your hosting account. Here, you can also manage subdomains or redirect a domain you already own to another site.

How To Add A New Domain Name

Adding a domain name to your hosting package is the same as adding a domain name to your cPanel. To do this, you will need to click “Addon Domains” which can be found in the domain section.

An “Addon Domain” is an entirely new, unique domain you can use to build a fully-functional website. You can host multiple domain names using the same control panel, which makes it much simpler to manage.

When you are on the “Addon Domains” screen, you will be prompted to enter your new domain name, the subdomain, and the document root. We have explained what each of those is, below.

  • New domain name: The domain name exactly as it was registered, without the “www.” portion.
  • Subdomain: This creates a subdomain for the primary domain on the cPanel account. This function is automatic and visitors to your site will never know they are being redirected to your new domain name.
  • Document root: This is where your new domain’s files will be located on the server.

When you type in your new domain name, cPanel will automatically fill the other two text boxes.

Click “Add Domain” to complete the process.

How To Edit Or Remove A Domain Name

On the “Addon Domain” screen, locate a section labeled “Modify Addon Domain.” This section allows you to edit the document root, manage any redirections you’ve created, or remove the domain.

Email Accounts & Settings

Once you have a domain name set up, you will want to set up an email account to go with it. The “email” section within cPanel includes every tool you need to manage your email.

How To Set Up A cPanel Email Account

cpanel email manager

To add a new email account to your domain, click “Email Account” then follow the directions below to set up your new email account:

  1. Where it says “Email”, enter the address you want to be contacted at.
  2. Choose the right domain name from the drop-down menu. If you haven’t yet added your domain to cPanel, you will have to do that first.
  3. Create a password and make sure it is secure.
  4. Adjust the Mailbox Quota for the account. Remember that emails use space on your server so it may be a good idea to not give everyone unlimited access.
  5. Click “Create Account”.

When you have completed the steps above, the email you just created should have been added to the list of email accounts.

How To Forward Your Email To Another Address

If you want to have the emails that go to your domain-related email address forwarded to another address you already own, like a Gmail address, first you will need to click on “Forwarders.”

Then, enter in the email address you have already created and select a destination you want those emails forwarded to.

Take note: When you answer those forwarded emails from your other account (like your Gmail account), the response will come from that account, not the domain name-associated email account.

If you want to send emails from your domain name email, you will need to log in to your webmail or set up your Mail Client and MX Records to allow you to do so.

How To Set Up Spam Filters

cpanel SpamAssassin

With cPanel, you can set up filters to keep spam far away from your inbox. First, click on the “Apache SpamAssassin” button in the Email section.

Then, you have a few options to choose from:

  • You can click “Enable Apache SpamAssassin” to turn on the smart spam filter.
  • You can click “Auto-Delete Spam” to flag spam and automatically discard it.
  • You can adjust how selective the spam filter is, using a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the most liberal and 10 being the most conservative.
  • You can enable your “Spam box” or empty it.

If you want to create advanced settings, click “Configure Apache SpamAssassin” to add blacklisted email addresses or to protect important emails from being deleted with whitelisted email addresses.

When you are just getting started, it may be best to leave the settings as they are.

How To Manage Your Files

The “Files” part of cPanel is where to go when you want to upload files, back up your website, and manage your FTP accounts.

FTP is how you can manage the files associated with your website, including reading, uploading, or retrieving them.

How To Use The File Manager

As the name suggests, you will want to become well acquainted with the File Manager when it comes to managing your files. With the File Manager, you can control all your site’s files with HTTP, rather than having to use an FTP tool or different third-party apps.

To use the File Manager, click the appropriately labeled icon. Be extremely careful when making any changes in the File Manager, as this is where all of the files for your site are kept.

Notice the root folder and sub-folders on the left. Then, in the middle of your screen, you should see the contents of the selected folder.

How To Create A New Folder

Folders keep your files organized and help make everything for your site easier to understand.

Instructions on how to create a new folder are below:

  1. Click the “+ Folder” button located in the top menu.
  2. Name the new folder and enter a destination where the new folder will be created.
  3. Click “Create New Folder”.
How To Upload A File Using File Manager

To add a file, such as a document you want people to be able to download or a picture you want to use on your website, you will first need to select the folder you want the file to be uploaded to.

Then click the “Upload” button. You will be prompted to drag and drop the file you want to upload. You can also click to select the file.

How To Add An FTP Account

If you want to give someone else permission to upload files to your website using an FTP client, you will first have to set up an FTP account. To get started, click on the “FTP Accounts” icon.

Then, you will need to create a login. Enter the name another user will use to log in, in the “Log In” box.

Use the dropdown list to select the domain where you want to make the FTP account, then add a password. Make sure the password is secure enough to prevent hacks.

The “Directory” box clarifies the new FTP account’s highest level of directory access.

You will also want to define the quota for the space the new FTP user’s account can take up. You can select a limited amount or allow for unlimited disk space.

How To Back Up Your Website

Not backing up your files puts you at risk for suddenly losing them in the case of unforeseen circumstances. Fortunately, on the cPanel website, it is easy to keep this disaster from happening. You can manually back up your site at any time.

Below are the instructions for how to back up your site:

  1. Click the “Backup Wizard” icon in the Files portion of your site.
  2. Click the “Backup” button.
  3. You will then see a screen that gives you the option to choose whether you want to do a full backup that includes all files, or a partial backup that includes only your Home Directory, MySQL Databases, Email Forwarders, and Filters.
  4. Select a backup destination. Unless you have a separate FTP server, this can be left as “Home Directory”.
  5. Type in your email address if you want to be notified when the backup is finished.
  6. Click “Generate Backup” to create a total backup.

How To Check Your Disk Space

It’s important to know how much space you are taking up, even if your hosting company told you your disk space is unlimited. By periodically checking your disk space, you can also see what parts of your website are using the most space.

To check your disk space, first, click the “Disk Usage” icon. You will then be able to look at the different sections of your file manager. You can also look at your quota or limit.

Guide To 1-Click Installs

Using cPanel, WordPress installations are easier than ever.

First, you will need to find the “Software” section of your cPanel home page. Then click “Softaculous Apps Installer“. You will then see a screen full of apps that can be easily installed.

To install WordPress, click “Install” and the deed is done!

Setting Up Your Admin Account

While you can leave the admin name as “admin” is fine, you may want to change it to your name. As for the password, it’s important to use a very strong password. To avoid being hacked, do not leave the password as “pass”.

It’s also important to update the email of the admin to match an account that already exists. Then set your language and enable the “Limit Login Attempts” to avoid brute force attacks.

Choosing A Theme For Your WordPress Site

When installing WordPress with Softaculous, you can choose a free theme as soon as you install your website. Find a theme you like then select it and click “Install”.

From there you are good to go!

Which Web Hosts Offer cPanel?

With web hosts like Bluehost, cPanel is the feature that makes their sites easy to use and manage. Bluehost is just one of ten hosting providers that offer cPanel.

The following web hosts offer cPanel hosting:

11 Best Email Marketing Services

Automate Your Efforts and Start Scaling Today

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email marketing

Email marketing services are platforms set up to make email marketing more manageable for businesses and individuals. With these platforms, users can build, organize, and fully operate their email lists with ease. The importance of email marketing in any online marketing campaign cannot be overemphasized. Study has it that for every dollar ($1) spent on email marketing, an average ROI of forty dollars ($40) is attained. This stands in a huge contrast against the two dollar ROI gotten from banner ads.

Return on Investment for every dollar spent

11 Best Email Marketing Services 1

  • Email: $40
  • Catalogs: $7.30
  • SEO: $22.24
  • Internet Display: $19.72
  • Mobile: $10.51
  • Keyword Ads: $17
  • Banner Ads: $2

With these figures in mind, it is obvious email marketing is not a channel one can afford to neglect. When one finally decides to dive in and utilize email marketing, it doesn’t end there. It is necessary to be well informed before choosing an email marketing service provider. Your marketing goals will go a long way in determining the type of platform best for you. Your budget, size of recipient list and the type of emails to be sent determines to a large factor as well. We took out time to analyze the available email marketing services in the market, and we came up with these. They are wonderful options for consideration.

1. HubSpot

With over fifty-two thousand customers (according to HubSpot.com) using their service, HubSpot is great service to use. HubSpot is arguably the apex service provider in terms of digital marketing. They even run digital marketing courses. Their free plan offers you access to

  • Forms for easy data collection on your landing pages.
  • Tools needed for contact management.
  • A wealth of analyzed and relevant contact insights and activity.
  • Facebook and Instagram lead ads.
  • Live Chat with the customer support for any problem you might be encountering.
  • Essential traffic and conversion analytics.

All these for just $0 per month.

Starting at $800 a month, their paid plan gives you

  • Premium versions of the materials and tools in the free plan, plus a lot more.
  • An automation feature that can excellently automate your digital and email marketing process.
  • A comprehensive email marketing platform and support
  • Landing pages for your website visitors and leads
  • Valuable social media tools for effective social media marketing
  • Tools for content creation and blogging
  • A dashboard for the comprehensive view of your analytics and over 30 additional features.

HubSpot seems perfect for small businesses and websites. Their free plan will go a long way in fulfilling their email marketing needs. The paid plan, albeit at a heavy price tag, has a lot to offer medium and big businesses/websites on email marketing. They have good deliverability, nice templates that supports drag-and-drop.

2. Constant Contact

With over 20+ years in the Industry, over 200 million emails sent daily (2017) and 180 countries served, Constant Contact prides itself as an authority in the email marketing industry. Study has it that just 80% of sent emails are delivered industry-wide but Constant Contact achieves a delivery rate of up to 97%.

Constant Contact allows you to build your contact list with relevant tools and sends automatic welcome email to new subscribers. They also offer a smooth drag and drop email template setup. Customers can also measure the success of their campaign by using the tracking tools provided by Constant Contact. Their basic plan starts at $20 for a fair amount of features like unlimited outgoing emails, working from the mobile app, list segmentation, Facebook lead Ads, marketing calendar, email scheduling, and live support. With additions like event marketing, online donations, coupons, surveys and polls, their secondary plan starts at $45 per month.

You get one month free when you try any of the plans.

3. Drip

In their own words, Drip is the first Customer-Relationship management platform built by and for E-Commerce specifically (E-CRM). The service was launched in 2013. It has a visual email builder for people with zero knowledge of coding who want to build appealing and attractive emails. Drip users get to enjoy integration, tracking, marketing automation, personalization, analytics and reporting all in one place.

The basic plan starts at just $49 a month for a list of about two thousand five hundred (2,500) subscribers and allows one to send unlimited emails.  The Pro plan starts at $99 a month for a list of about five thousand subscribers (5,000) and also allows one to send unlimited emails.

Marketers with lists having more than five thousand subscribers have to use the Enterprise plan which varies. You have to state your need to enable them to calculate the whole setup and know the exact cost of the plan you are on. You also get to send unlimited emails on this one. You will need to contact the sales department for that purpose.

To get more knowledge about Content Management Systems and to determine which CMS is right for you, take a look at our CMS blog post

4. ConvertKit

ConvertKit is an email marketing service ideal for bloggers. They pride in increasing conversions of their customers’ campaigns using automated emails that feel very personal. They have customizable and easy-to-understand opt-in forms that help bloggers (and other types of businesses) turn readers (visitors) to paying clients. With the homepage dashboard, a ConvertKit user can easily track growth and campaign progress. They also bring in marketing automation that adds a personal feel to the campaign. These automations do the tedious work of sending timely and targeted content to your contacts. With zero knowledge of coding, their drag and drop feature helps users create personalized and automated emails with beautiful templates to boost the ROI of the campaign. It makes provision for audience segmentation as well. High deliverability, text-based emails, slack community, concierge migration, reliable support, and broadcast features are some of the other sweet offerings ConvertKit has for its users.

Pricing starts at $29 per month for a list with 0 to 1,000 subscribers, $49 per month for a list with 1,000 to 3,000 subscribers, $79 per month for lists with 3,000 to 5,000 subscribers. For more significant lists with more than 5,000 subscribers, there is a calculation service to determine the cost on the pricing page of ConvertKit’s website. For each plan, you get a 14 days free trial period.

5. AWeber

As they, themselves, call it; Simple, personalized Email marketing and Automation. They have been around since 1998; 20 years of operation.

AWeber offers live support by phone, chat, and email. They also provide customer problem solutions by hosting a live coaching session and weekly webinars, all to help their users step up their marketing game. You can integrate your old lists into your new AWeber account, and it would just start working fine. You can also create a web form using AWeber and put up on your landing page.

With a mobile app and a website account dashboard to track your campaigns on the go, checking out the metrics that matter most in your campaign is no longer a problem. You also get to access individual subscriber statistics.

Advanced targeting and segmentation is another special feature AWeber bring to the table. Depending on the actions subscribers take, you can send specially targeted emails to them (not just auto-responders) and even add them to individual segments on your list. Indeed the future of email. Their email automation also helps users save time on the whole campaign process.

Their pricing starts at $19 per month for lists of 0 to 500 subscribers, $29 per month for lists with 501 to 2,500 subscribers, $49 per month for lists with 2,501 to 5,000 subscribers, $69 per month for lists with 5,001 to 10,000 subscribers, $149 per month for lists with 10,001 to 25,000 subscribers and custom quotes for lists with 25,000+ subscribers. All plans access the same features, albeit efficiency might differ, the only difference is the size of the list allowed.

6. GetResponse

GetResponse is another 800-pound gorilla in the room. With over three hundred and fifty thousand customers signed up on their platform, they are obviously the user’s choice. They offer beautiful email templates with the drag-and-drop feature enabled to increase sales and optimize engagement. They provide web forms for data collection and email subscription, autoresponders for special actions and retargeting, advanced analytics on your dashboard to inform your marketing decisions, A/B testing and lots more. Their landing pages with so many mobile friendly template designs bring about high conversions.

They also provide a webinar marketing solution; features that allow you send invites, reminders, and follow-up emails with great automation. Social media integrations are not absent. All these enhance sales for your business.

Everything can get automated on the GetResponse platform; cart abandonment follow-up, segmentation, web event tracking and lots more.

Their plans start at $15 per month for email marketing beginners to $1,199 per month for enterprise solutions. They also offer a one-month free trial, no credit card involved.

7. MailChimp

MailChimp is arguably the most popular email marketing service on the internet today. Incorporated in the year 2001, they have been playing the game for 17 years now.

MailChimp gives you the ability to have an overview of your entire email marketing campaign. It also gives you essential tools to help you create awesome emails with easily customizable templates and also connects your campaign to all the needed platforms: social media, website, etc. You also have the option to automate the processes in your campaign using things like auto-responders, segmented list targeting, retargeting, marketing and remarketing. At the forefront, it helps you quickly optimize the whole process every step of the way.

MailChimp has a free plan for basic users. Your list enjoys a limit of 2,000 subscribers; you are allowed to send 12,000 emails every month; multi-user accounts are enabled, you get access to guides and tutorials, and also Email and Chat Support (First 30 days is email only). However, this plan will not allow you to remove the MailChimp footer in emails, and you cannot access premium support. They also have the Grow version starting at $10 monthly and the Pro version starting at $199. The exact cost of these paid plans is subject to different factors like the size of your list and the number of emails you wish to send monthly. The Grow version allows you to remove the MailChimp footer in your emails as it is with the Pro version. But only the Pro version gives you access to premium support on the platform.

8. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign claims to play host to over fifty thousand (50,000) businesses on their email marketing platform. ActiveCampaign lets you send targeted and personal emails to contacts with segmentation features to ease retargeting and remarketing. They also offer valuable automation features that let you save time on your campaigns and follow-ups. With smart customer-relationship management and lead scoring that allows for easy sales automation, ActiveCampaign helps you organize your customer data. There is also site messaging, SMS, segmentation and engagement tracking to help you message your clients when it matters most. ActiveCampaign has over 150+ integrations with sites like Facebook, Shopify, WordPress, etc. to make the whole experience as easy and smooth as possible

Some other awesome features like advanced reporting, integrated forms, site tracking, training, support, migration services, Gmail extension (allows you work out of your Gmail account), advanced email segmentation, automation goals, and an IOS CRM app to help you manage your campaigns on the go.

They have a nice pricing plan; starting at $9, and get as high as $229 depending on individual needs. They also have a 30 days free trial period.

9. Infusionsoft

With over 30,000 small business owners on their platform, Infusionsoft is one of the best email marketing services out there. Infusionsoft offers wonderful Customer-Relationship management for businesses to increase relationship with clients, increase sales and personalize the sales process. Their marketing automation enables you to save time on your campaign and focus on some other tasks. The whole process can be automated at any point of the way, from opt-in to the Thank-you-for-buying-from-us email. Users who choose Infusionsoft to get to enjoy an appointment system, a dashboard of analytics, essential integrations, payment solutions, online sales, and some other pro features. Their pricing starts at $99 and can get up to $497.They also offer free trials for new customers with no credit card needed.

10. SendinBlue

SendinBlue serves 140 countries, sends 40 million emails daily, sends 5 million SMS monthly and has 50,000 users. They are fully GDPR compliant. They have an easy to use service, with email and phone support, a rock solid platform, wonderful API, Plugins and Integrations. Their features include

  • HTML editor
  • Personalized Emails
  • Responsive templates gallery
  • Email testing
  • Custom contact fields
  • Segmentation contacts
  • Custom forms
  • Deliverability test
  • Dedicated IP
  • Send time optimization
  • Real-time statistics
  • Open & Click-through reports
  • Heat Map
  • Transactional email template
  • SMTP for transactional emails
  • Scenarios builder
  • Lead scoring
  • Lead generation
  • Transactional SMS
  • Plugins and API

Their pricing starts from the free version with 300 emails daily limit and an unlimited contacts list to the Enterprise plan that requires special calculation to get the cost with an unlimited contact list and so many other premium features.

11. VerticalResponse

With the option of a free trial for 60 days, VerticalResponse offers a range of nice email marketing plans that you would like. With easily customizable email templates, you are in line to create beautiful emails, which convert highly, in minutes. Their automation feature allows you the liberty to choose the perfect time when your emails get sent. With their easy-to-edit template for landing pages, you don’t need to have knowledge in coding to be able to set up landing pages for your sales processes.

With the help of an account dashboard,  you can easily access and monitor the progress of your campaign. You can also design and distribute surveys to get more info about your customers and know what they care about; actionable insights for your campaign.

Asides their free plan that allows you to send up to 4,000 emails to a maximum of 300 contacts during the 60-day period, their pricing starts at $11 per month and can get up to $196 per month, and they are all based on the size of your email list.

It is worthy to note that businesses that make use of Google Suite in their operations tend to make more sales and hit more growth metric points. Your business needs Google Suite services, and this is why you need it

13 Best Website Builders

How To Build A Stunning Website Effortlessly

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While the number of active websites changes every day, there are more than a billion websites out there, according to Netcraft’s 2018 survey. Creating a website can be intimidating, especially if it’s your first. You want to make sure that it stands out for the other noise on the internet. To do that, you need to make sure that you have a beautiful website to make that happen.

But, if you don’t have coding skills, building a website that doesn’t look like it’s out of the 1990s can seem out of your reach. A site done by a professional can cost thousands of dollars, and it might not be possible either. So how can you get the website of your dreams? Thanks to website builders, you can create a stunning product within minutes. Many web hosting providers will have hundreds of templates to choose from that can accommodate all of your needs.

No matter if you need a website as a hobby, for business, or as an online store, there is a website builder out there for you. To help make it easier for you, we have created a list of our top 13 best website builders.

Squarespace

13 Best Website Builders 2

You have most likely heard of Squarespace before. They have done some memorable Super Bowl ads, and you most likely have seen their ads pop up on Youtube or Facebook. Squarespace is popular, reasonably easy to use, and is well-thought out, so everything is available at your fingertips.

Squarespace requires everything you need to create a beautiful website. No matter if you want to create a hobby website or an online store, Squarespace tries to be an all-in-one platform with templates engineered towards some of the most popular categories so you can have a site that fits your specific needs.

Some of Squarespace’s features include:

  • Style editor
  • Easy to switch between templates
  • Mobile-friendly website designs
  • Customizable content layouts
  • Custom CSS
  • Drag-and-drop management

Weebly

13 Best Website Builders 3

Weebly offers fully customizable templates, so if you want ultra-modern or bold and classic, they will have something for you to fit your design needs. Their customization tools allow you to control everything about the template including font, header, color scheme, and all other major design elements. They make it easy for everyone, even someone with no design skills. However, if you do have some coding skills, they do offer full HTML and CSS control for a unique look.

Weebly’s features include:

  • A drag and drop editor
  • Interactive content elements like text, photos, maps, and videos
  • Video Backgrounds
  • Full-width images and color backgrounds

Site123

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Site123 advertises themselves as “by far the easiest free website builder,” and it is true that they are extremely easy to use. Their website builder contains hundreds of templates, and they can help you to create small online shops, blogs, landing pages and more without having to write a line of code. All skill levels will find that their interface (which is available in more than 15 languages) is very intuitive and understandable, helping all to create a completely custom website in minutes.

Best Features of Site123 include:

  • Professional domain name included with all plans
  • Analytics to help you understand and grow website traffic
  • Easily add a store to the website

Wix

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Wix is similar to a PowerPoint presentation, meaning you can drag any element anywhere on your website. This type of blank canvas website builder can be a bit intimidating at first, but Wix is relatively easy to use. Wix pages are built by adding different elements – you can choose between variations on shapes, icons, buttons, boxes, and audio players. There are hundreds of options, including integration with 3rd party apps. The problem is that all those options mean you can get confused and bogged down by all the choices. However, its flexibility makes it a good option as a site builder.

Best Features of Wix

  • More than 500 designer-made templates
  • Drag & drop template
  • App market
  • Mobile optimized
  • Scroll effects

WordPress.com

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A common misconception about WordPress.com is that it is the same as WordPress; it isn’t. Most people only think of WordPress as WordPress.org, which is the most popular source content management system (CMS). Even though WordPress.com is built using WordPress.org, it is not the same thing. The interface of WordPress.com is a simplified version which is something you would expect to see in a website builder.

WordPress.com is a bit different from the typical drag-and-drop editors, and instead, it uses a form-based editor which separates the content of pages from the design. Unfortunately, this means the pages are designed within context. WordPress is not as intuitive as Squarespace or Weebly, but it is the best for blogging.

WordPress features:

  • Excellent blog features
  • Flexible promotions editor
  • Stats and analytics
  • Mobile friendly

For more help on WordPress, check out our helpful article on how to get started with WordPress.

Voog

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For those looking for a multilingual website, Voog is an excellent choice. The editor is a bit more plain and spare than other website builders who jam in tons of features. You can choose from hundreds of templates and can build your page by dragging and dropping elements from the dashboard onto your page. However, the layouts for the pages are often inflexible so you can’t easily customize the templates to fit your needs.

Top features of Voog:

  • Multilingual
  • Mobile-friendly
  • Can easily create an online store
  • Can run a reselling business through Voog

SiteBuilder.com

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SiteBuilder boosts that you can get started on building your website in just three easy steps.

  • Pick a template between the hundreds of customizable templates
  • Choose a domain for your website
  • Publish your website

While of course, it does take a bit more work than that, Sitebuilder.com is easy to use and helps you get up and running fast. Their dashboard is quick to pick up, even for newbies, and is relatively uncomplicated. Where the website builder shines is in its e-commerce features, so if a digital store is your goal, check out Sitebuilder.com. For more help on how to improve your online store, check out our article on how to increase your e-commerce revenue.

Sitebuilder.com’s top features:

  • Free hosting and domain name
  • Drag and drop editor
  • Payment methods include PayPal, Stripe, and 2Checkout
  • Ability to create and manage coupons
  • Multiple gateway integration, tax, and shipping settings

Simvoly

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Like most website builders, Simvoly is extremely easy to use thanks to its clear, intuitive drag-and-drop interface. There are hundreds of customizable, responsive design site templates. With their dashboard, you have full control over the page design, and they have a great way to build funnels, which increase your conversion rate.  

Top Features of Simvoly:

  • Funnel builder
  • A/B Split Testing
  • Detailed analytics

Duda

13 Best Website Builders 10

Duda is not as intuitive as some of the other companies on this list like Weebly and Squarespace. It can feel a bit disorganized and overwhelming, and it can take a while for new users to get used to it. There are many different small, hidden menus throughout Duda so that you have to make sure you are keeping track of all of them to make sure you are utilizing Duda to the fullest.

Features of Duda:

  • One-click SSL
  • Drag & Drop Template
  • Stats and analytics
  • Hosted on AWS with 99.99% uptime

Strikingly

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Strikingly stands out from all the other websites on this page because it allows you to build one-page websites. Navigation is reasonably simple, but it does offer more limited options for customization than you might want. The responsive design in both mobile and desktop are impressive, but many of the standard features require a premium paid account.

Features of Strikingly:

  • E-commerce functionality with no transaction fee
  • Analytics
  • Built-in HTTPS

SnapPages

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SnapPages feels more like a CMS than a typical website builder. Instead of having one interface for everything, you navigate through an admin before editing pages. You can choose between 21 section templates to help get you started, and it allows you quite a bit of control over the different section. SnapPages is a good option for the basics.

Top Features of SnapPages:

  • Modern designs
  • Simple drag & drop editor
  • Cloud hosting
  • Mobile optimized

GoDaddy

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GoDaddy is another big name on this list thanks to their prominent Super Bowl commercials in past years. They recently updated their website builder, making it easy to use without requiring you to spend a lot of time on the design. GoDaddy also offers generous storage and a simple interface. However, if you want to customize their templates, you are extremely limited in your options, and you can’t edit photos. If you are looking to start an online store through GoDaddy, you will have to pay for an upgrade.

Best features of GoDaddy:

  • SEO optimized
  • Free SSL
  • Thousands of templates

uKit

13 Best Website Builders 14

uKit is a website builder that makes everything accessible for you to create a stunning website. They offer strong features like live chat, MailChimp signup forms, Google search and more.  However, the main drawback of uKit is that many of their themes aren’t unique and look too similar. If you want to customize the templates, it is limited and hard to do so.

Top Features of uKit

  • Mobile friendly
  • Unlimited pages, photos, videos, or traffic
  • Easy drag and drop
  • Sell online with convenient payment methods like bank cards, PayPal, and more.

17 Best Domain Name Generators

No More Spending Endless Hours Trying to Come up with a Creative Brand Name

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Domain names are so varied, so important, and so plentiful (There are approximately 340 million domain names “out there”) that it seems like an impossible task to create a snappy, easy to remember address for your newest website and/or blog. So, if you’re sat with your head in your hands wondering what on earth you are going to do with the two or so words rattling around your brain — or simply “thinking it out” over a drink of choice — then stand up and get on the internet: Help is at hand.

Listed below — in easy to understand descriptions — are the 17 best domain name generators that will see your ideas used to the most significant effect.

1. SuggestMeDomain

Suggest Me Domain

Use it when you need a quick check for availability.

How to use

Enter your words — choose a category if you want to — then click “generate.” A list of .com addresses appears.

The Good

  • Straightforward interface.
  • Allows you to choose a category for more control.
  • Straight to the registration process when you click on the one you want.

The Bad

  • Only offers .com addresses.
  • Offers standard suggestions.

2. Shopify Business Name Generator

Shopify Business Name Generator

Use it as an alternative to LeanDomainSearch.

How to use

Type in a keyword, read the suggestions and pick the one you like. If you want to build a Shopify store, then quick registration is available.

The Good

  • Site building is available straight away.
  • Has more flair and creativity to the suggestions.

The Bad

  • It only lets you register if you’re going to build a Shopify store.
  • Only lists .com suggestions.

3. Namestall

Namestall

Use it when you want more control over how to create suggestions.

How to use

Choose where you want your keyword, at the beginning or end, enable/disable hyphens, and then pick a ‘word group’ that will complete your domain.

The Good

  • You choose where your keyword goes.
  • Fantastic customization options.
  • Supplies core TLDs (top-level domains), then directly registers them.

The Bad

  • You have to subscribe after five searches.
  • The site feels a little ‘dated.’

4. Domainr

Domainr

Use it when you want to know if a concrete idea is available.

How to use

Type in the words you have and watch the list populate.

The Good

  • Provides a comprehensive check for the availability of your ideas.
  • Offers extensive domain names and details their status.
  • List TLDs.

The Bad

  • Doesn’t generate suggestions but shows combinations from your keywords.
  • No real control over the creative development of your domain name.

5. Nameboy

Nameboy

Use it when hyphenated variations are needed and for checking what top-level domains (TLDs) are available.

How to use

Input the seed word/phrase that you want to use and combine into one domain name.

The Good

  • Is very well established.
  • Resale names are listed.
  • Offers TLDs.
  • You can choose hyphens.

The Bad

6. NameTumbler

NameTumbler

Use it if you like it simple and when you a) need TLDs for your domain search and b) need alternatives to .com.

How to use

Put in your search terms click “Get Results,” the suggestions will be then listed.

The Good

  • Selects the TLDs for your domain search.
  • Offers .com, .net, info, and .biz.

The Bad

  • Seems limited in what it generates.

7. Domain Puzzler

Domain Puzzler

Use it when you have the words you want but still need to check the coolest availability.

How to use

Input your keywords, choose the TLDs you’re interested and let the tool work its magic. An option to favorite domain names is available.

The Good

  • Multiple keyword combinations are OK.
  • Zooms in on precisely what you need.

The Bad

  • Bugs out at times and doesn’t deliver when you do a search.

8. Wordoid

Wordoid

Use it if you know what you’re doing, have time, and don’t want actual ‘real’ words.

How to use

Choose your language, quality of the word’s naturalness, their pattern and length (up to 15 letters)

The Good

  • Excellent control over what you want to create.
  • Offers .com and .net
  • Multiple languages are available: English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.

The Bad

  • Not actual words.
  • Have to trawl to find what you want.
  • Could be tricky for first-time users.

9. Domainsbot

Domainsbot

Use it to check numerous TLDs and to customize synonyms, prefixes, and suffixes, this gives a lot more control.

How to use

Provide a keyword then customize the TLDs, add/change via synonyms and even add a preferred prefix and/or suffix.

The Good

  • Direct registration is available via your registrar of choice.
  • Synonym, prefix and suffix customization.
  • Offers TLDs.

The Bad

  • Suggestions don’t seem as creative and original as some other generators.

10. Namemesh

Namemesh

Use it if you have a list of keywords to include in your domain name and you want to arrange them precisely.

How to use

Begin by inputting your keyword(s) then select the TLDs of choice. You will get an extensive listing of domains detailing which are available.

The Good

  • A very extensive choice is listed.

The Bad

  • The search engine also lists unavailable domain names.

11. Panabee

Panabee

Use it if you like want lots of information about the domain name process and what it involves.

How to use

Simply write a description of your idea in two words, click search and it will list suggestions.

The Good

  • Lists your ideal domain name if it’s being used and offers alternatives.
  • You can check out different domain extensions on a registrar.
  • Some great information provided.

The Bad

  • Only offers one registrar.
  • Can only input two words.
  • The site is not secure.

12. Domain Maker by BustAName

Domain Maker by BustAName

Use it when you want the domain to be extra unusual.

How to use

Input your seed word, place it at the beginning or end, and choose the number of characters.

The Good

  • Compares costs for different registrars.
  • Offers original/unusual names.
  • A “Make Random Domains” button offers great options.

The Bad

  • Keywords cannot sit in the middle of the domain name.

13. Dot-o-mator

Dot-o-mator

Use it when you want to control the beginnings and endings of your domain.

How to use

Choose a word(s) — or type your own — in the left box, then choose some endings — or type your own. Click “Combine”. Check the domain’s availability or save on the “scratchboard” provided.

The Good

  • Offers suggestions if you’re ‘stuck’.
  • Intuitive and original site.
  • iOS (Apple) app is available.

The Bad

  • No Android app is available.
  • Could be tricky to use for first-timers.
  • Only lists .com

14. Impossibility!

Impossibility

Use it if you have time to experiment with the customizing tools. It’s pretty awesome!

How to use

Input a keyword then add what you want to combine it with. You get to choose where the word goes and its length.

The Good

Having this much control over the genesis of your domain name is cool.

The Bad

  • Only one keyword is allowed.
  • Limited to .com domains.
  • The site is not secure.

15. LeanDomainSearch

LeanDomainSearch

Use it when all you’ve got in your creative pouch is a word or two.

How to use

Enter a single keyword and “hey presto”, a list of domain name ideas — offered for .com registration — appears.

The Good     

  • Allows direct domain registration.
  • Twitter availability is also checked.
  • You can keep/access your favorites list.

The Bad

  • Only offers .com addresses.
  • Goes straight to one registrar.

16. iwantmyname

iwantmyname

Use it when you want to manage a domain that you are set on.

How to use

Type in your domain’s keywords and it will populate a list of available domains that are ready for direct purchase.

The Good

  • Offers in-house domain registration.
  • You can transfer an existing domain if you wish to.
  • Registers favorite international, generic, or original TDLs.

The Bad

  • Doesn’t offer an outlet for creativity.

17. Instant Domain Search Name Generator

Instant Domain Search Name Generator

Use it to generate lots of names with lots of ideas when you don’t have much direction to what you want your domain name to be.

How to use

Input your keywords and populate an extensive list of suggestions.

The Good

  • Easy to navigate different criteria such as: For Sale / Extensions / Expired.
  • Offers exhaustive domain extension alternatives.

The Bad

  • Only offers purchase from one registrar.

How Decentralized Hosting Will Change Internet as We Know It

Faster, Stronger, Better & More Reliable

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Back when it all started, the original purpose of the internet and the web was to provide a universal and neutral network on which individuals could equally participate towards the goal of improving technology and bettering humanity. As noble as this may sound, the original dream of the web faded along the way, and so did the altruism of big companies. It all happened during the first dot-com bubble when businesses and people realized that the incredible value the web has –ultimately creating centralized services which gathered, trapped, and monetized information for their personal gain.

Luckily, there is an emerging movement to bring back this lost vision of the web. Called the Decentralized Web or Web 3.0, it refers to a trend of building hosting services which do not depend on one central organization that has the monopoly over others. In this article we’ll introduce you to this idea, letting you understand why this new web movement will change the Internet as we know it.

Pro tip:Decentralized hosting is still new and undeveloped. If you want early access to the effects of decentralized hosting, you can use VPS Hosting from A2Hosting. Claim our coupon here and try it out today.

How Decentralized Hosting Will Change Internet as We Know It 15How Decentralized Hosting Will Change Internet as We Know It 16

What is Decentralized Hosting?

Decentralized hosting, also known as cloud hosting as far as today’s technology has evolved, envisions a future in which publishing, communicating, archiving, searching, and social networking are not services provided solely by centralized organizations. By contrast, it would refer to technologies that are powered by us, the people and our online communities.

In other words, the core idea behind decentralization of hosting services is that the operation of hosting-related services will not belong to a single omnipotent business which holds the monopoly. Instead of one single company being responsible, like for instance Bluehost, the responsibility will be shared –either by having multiple servers or running across client apps using a peer-to-peer model of distribution.

If you’re running an already successful blog, we understand that you might be skeptical about this model in which you have to trust and rely on others. However, decentralized hosting could manage to bring people together, forcing all those involved to act in a fair way towards each other –using cryptographic techniques such as Merkle trees and additional digital signatures that allow the individuals involved to hold each other accountable for their actions.

How Decentralized Hosting Will Change Internet as We Know It 17
Image Credit: https://nakov.com/blog/2018/04/24/the-upcoming-decentralized-cloud-dpaas-decentralized-computing-db-storage-as-a-service/

The Benefits of Decentralized Hosting

While we won’t dive into the benefits deeply in this article, there are key points to bring up to the surface. The kind of Decentralized hosting/Cloud hosting we are referring to today offers tremendous speed differences when compared to traditional web hosting. In our tests, we saw performance gains way over 600%, and we are just at the beginning of utilizing this technology. Imagine not having to rely on costly server setups, which are prone to crash or get hacked. Imagine being connected to thousands of nodes around the world who share their computing power and storage space. The scalability and reliability leave traditional web hosting lightyears behind.

Blockchain technology


For those who are not aware of the term, blockchain technology is a sort of online ledger in which all transactions and communications are stored. This non-distributed database holds a record, otherwise known as a block, of all the interactions –with a subsequent time stamp and link to the cooperation.

In other words, this system is fair to all individuals involved, simply because once the data is recorded, it cannot be altered retroactively. To successfully change something, you would need to change all the blocks involved, and that would lead to a collapse of the network.

It’s easy to spot that the market blockchain ecosystems have seen a more rapid and steady increase which now appears imminent. In fact, the market capitalization of blockchain-based assets is around $600 billion, so there is a lot of money involved.

But this is just the beginning, as when decentralized blockchain systems will start replacing the centralized web services that have so far dominated the market, we will finally witness the sovereignty of the Internet. In other words, we believe that the future internet will be decentralized.

ICOs

Initial Coin Offerings, otherwise known as ICOs, is a system through which a company can secure funding for any future projects –seamlessly using blockchain technology to its advantage. To put things into perspective, ICOs are the first genuinely decentralized form of crowdfunding available to people like you and me.

It works by asking individuals to use cryptocurrency to purchase tokens that are then used as an investment base for the company or service they want to support. Simply put, these tokens will act as your “digital share”, and their value will be directly correlated to the profitability of the business. It does sound attractive and easy-to-use, but always ensure that you discuss the business concept, the present, and future implementation plan, and agree to a transparency of collected funds.

The main advantage and why this could change the internet is the fact that a decentralized financial system will be entirely independent of the conventional banks we are used to –thus not being able to be manipulated by governments or other bodies interested in getting a cut from your profits. For example, Bitcoin (BTC) is the most popular cryptocurrency known by users, holding around 50% of the current crypto-market share –where the blockchain concept has served as the basis for the cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Of course, there are many more uses for block chains, including keeping files up to date, publishing, archiving, social networking, and other hosting needs that will interest both small and more significant businesses.

Shift

Shift might not be incredibly well-known, but the company has found an innovative and refreshing way of incorporating blockchain technology into one of most essential business needs, web hosting.

Shift has the goal of changing to the industry as we know it, seeking to become the first self-standing decentralized web hosting ecosystem -taking advantage of this ever-evolving domain registry industry.

How to get involved

You may already be buzzing with excitement at the thought of a decentralized system. If you’re willing to get involved and spread the word, you will first need to purchase SHIFT token –using a form of cryptocurrency (i.e., Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), or Ethereum (ETH).

If you’re unsure where to start, Coinbase is a great place to make your first crypto purchases, as this is the most significant cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. Setting up is seamlessly smooth, needing to connect a bank account before beginning your crypto-investment dreams.  Once that is done and dusted, you are now ready to purchase SHIFT tokens by going to bittrex.com and filling out all the relevant and needed information –ultimately investing in the world’s first decentralized domain ecosystem.

Conclusion

The world of cryptocurrencies is both intriguing and ever-expanding, and now is the ideal time to get your footing in this financial system. We are convinced that blockchain technology is the harbinger of innovative things that will change the Internet as we know it.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hosting

The Most Popular Questions Asked by Our Visitors

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1.   How to add or remove a Unique IP

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re looking to either add or remove IP address bindings and create your anonymous personality. Among your set of options, you can use TCP ports, IP address bindings, and host header names to host multiple websites on solely one cluster.

It’s essential to remember that because all members are synchronized with the controller, you will need to add all the relevant information from all members to that particular controller. If, for example, IP bindings are inconsistent and inappropriately done, then you might experience some unpredictable results.

If you’re dealing with a traditional non-NLB cluster, you’ll need to first bind all member-specific website settings to each website on the controller (i.e., IP addresses and such). If we’re discussing hosting multiple webs in an NLB cluster, then you’ll require adding a VIP or IP address directly to the network adapter on the controller.

How to add an IP address

  1. First of all, you’ll need to be in the IIS snap-in.
  2. Step two is right-clicking the website on which to add an IP address binding, afterward opening the pop-up menu and clicking Properties. Once that is done and dusted, you’ll see the dialogue box appear.
  3. Click on the tab named Web Site, and find the Advanced option –the dialog box will open up.
  4. Under Multiple identities for this Web Site, click the Add button.
  5. Once you’re in the Advanced Web Site Identification dialog box, you should be able to enter the appropriate values for TCP Port, IP Address, and Host Header Name.
  6. If you’ve sorted that out, click OK.
  7. Afterwards, click OK twice to return to the IIS snap-in.

How to remove an IP address

  1. First of all, you’ll need to be in the IIS snap-in
  2. Step two will be right-clicking the website from which you want to remove an IP address binding, afterward seeing a pop-up menu and clicking Properties –a dialogue box will appear.
  3. Click on the tab called Web Site, and under Web Site Identification you will find the Advanced option.
  4. Once you’re in the Multiple identities for this Web site part, select the IP address to you want to remove, and then click, well, the Remove button.
  5. Click OK to confirm that you want to go ahead.
  6. Afterwards, click OK twice to return to the IIS snap-in.

2.   How do I backup my entire account?

Losing data due to a hard disk issue or computer crash is annoying, to say the least. Between losing essential work documents, your beloved music collection, or even family photos, you might just feel like giving up.

To add fuel to the fire, it can take an increasingly long time to reconfigure all your personalized settings just the way you’re used to, including the little things (i.e., screensavers, sounds, desktop backgrounds, wireless network configurations, etc.)

To prevent this anxiety and distress from taking form there is a natural thing you could do, and that is the:

‘One-Click’ backup

This option is seamless to put into place. To clarify, you will merely need to head over to your Control Panel, go to Billing & Account, and then click on Backup Your Account. This is possibly the easiest way to back-up all your databases, mailboxes, users, and in fact, the entire account.

It’s essential to bear in mind that if this is your first backup, the process might seem to drag on and on. You will need to put your brave face on and let time pass –once you’re done, you will be notified via email of the process having been completed.

3.   How to manually backup your dedicated site files

Unfortunately, dedicated servers don’t feature the option of restoring a website back up as quickly as it can be. Instead of going into the control panel, you’ll need to use an admin user, employing the approach outlined below:

To restore something from your most recent backup, you will need first to rename the directory. For example, if your site is yesterday.com, rename it to yesterday.com.old or yesterday.com.past.

Afterwards, you will need to create a new empty website folder with a name of your choice, and then run a sync to copy the restored files to this new blank folder.

4.   How to enable Cloudflare on your domain

In order to enable Cloudflare on your site, you will need to go into the Control Panel bar, select Domains, and then the Manage Domains option. However, you should note that you won’t be able to change anything without having or adding a hosting plan to your account.

If you’ve already got that covered, click the Edit button located at the right of the domain –right under the Web Hosting row. For those using Cloudflare without a subdomain, select Add WWW as a domain name when asked: “Do you want www in your URL?”

Afterwards, scroll down all the way to the Cloudflare Services section and click on Enable Cloudflare on this domain box.

Cloudflare account type

If by any chance you don’t have a Cloudflare account, you will first need to select the option Create a New Account in the drop-down menu. You might notice that you’re being asked to provide a valid email address that you’d like to use for the creation of the account, all while also picking a password for it. If needed, write it down on a piece of paper. You’ll need to remember both the username and password if you want to log in and manage your account at Cloudflare.com.

Once you’re done with the account, select the Cloudflare subscription level you’ll need or want. You can find a detailed list of their plans on the official website –should you be confused about your options. Within 5-10 minutes of doing so, your domain will be updated, and you’ll be able to use Cloudflare.

Alternatively, you might already have an account. If this is the situation you’re in, select the option Existing Account from the drop-down menu. You’ll be required to enter your email address and password corresponding to your Cloudflare account.

5.   Cloudflare FAQs

I’ve lost the password to my Cloudflare account. How can I retrieve it and access it?

This is a great question and something that happens more often than you’d imagine. If this is where you’re at, use the Cloudflare forgot my password link to reset your password quickly. To continue the process, you’ll need to remember at least one of the domains you have registered with the service. However, if no domains are yet attached to the account, you can leave that space blank.

Can Cloudflare access my MySQL databases?

In short, the answer is no. Cloudflare is only able to connect to a web server via the HTTP –similar to any other visitor trying to access your website.

I can’t seem to connect the SSH or FTP to my hostname. How do I fix this?

When you go enable Cloudflare for the domain, the domain’s DNS record or www is updated. However, the name server does not change in the slightest, with merely the A record being changed.

In other words, if you used to use a subdomain to connect via SSH or FTP, then you’ll need to adapt your approach and connect via the server name.

What files are distributed on Cloudflare’s CDN?

When discussing Cloudflare’s CDN distribution, it’s essential to know that merely static files are accessible via HTTPS. For example, scripts of other types of data are not available via this means and are not shared with Cloudflare.

To put things into perspective, Cloudflare only has the option of caching data from your website or your server. Content from other links or external sources is not cached as a result. This may be confusing at first, but on their website, you can find the full list of cached data.