Secure Your Website: Course Video Sections & Resources

Intro

Course Outline:

This course is split into 2 parts.

Part 1 is for understanding and setting up a baseline security for your website.

This includes:

Secure hosting
Selecting the right plugins
Obtaining and configuring an SSL certificate for your website
Scheduling automatic backups
And some best practices along the way

Part 2 is more advanced tactics and involves automating tasks and getting into some of the code of the website.

Don’t worry!

Even if this is your first website, you will be able to follow along and secure your site. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out!

Secure Hosting:

Cloudways Managed Hosting: https://www.cloudways.com/en/?id=158602

Use Code: SOULFULDESIGN at checkout for another 20% off for 2 months

Plugin Security:

Use this link for a quick plugin checklist: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1waN4TafIuc3lJNDtX_yPzQzHF74EQxKlHeYTbZEBcnk/edit?usp=sharing

Intro To SSL Certificates:

Reasons to use an SSL Certificate for your website:

If you are accepting payment or any potentially personal information from your users it will be a great idea to have.
If you expect a lot of traffic or want to increase your SEO an SSL certificate is a good idea.
Google is starting to show scary warning messages that could keep
Your visitors from going to your website making it generally a good idea

There are 2 routes I’m going to show you for installing an SSL Certificate:

The first is called LetsEncrypt and is LESS SECURE.
If you expect to collect personal info or payments you should purchase an SSL and that is in the Purchasing and installing an SSl certificate section.

Note: If you purchase a certificate make sure its from a trusted “Certificate Authority”

Installing a LetsEncrypt SSL Certificate:

Link to their website for more info: https://letsencrypt.org/

LetsEncrypt Docs: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/

If you need to watch my first course to learn DNS basics

here it is for FREE: https://skl.sh/2NH4CeE

Purchasing & Installing an SSL Certificate:

Where I get my SSL Certs: https://www.gogetssl.com/

Generate a CSR here: https://www.gogetssl.com/online-csr-generator/

Decode a CSR here: https://www.gogetssl.com/online-csr-decoder/

Check your SSL Certs here: https://www.gogetssl.com/check-ssl-installation/

Quick Note:

In the .crt or .cer file you will see the public certificate
In the .ca or .ca-bundle file you will find the certificate chain

Creating Admin Accounts & Password Best Practices:

Key Points:

don’t use Admin or any variation of admin for your admin username
Always use a long and good password
Make sure the username and password are kept somewhere safe

Automated Website Backups:

Backups Plugin: https://updraftplus.com/

WordPress Plugins Page for backups plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/

Download button for plugin file: https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/updraftplus.1.16.20.zip

Key Points:

Don’t leave it to yourself to perform backups, setup automatic backups with the plugin
Make sure the backups are retained long enough for you to check every now and then so your backups don’t get overwritten
Always try to have backups performed somewhere offsite in case your server crashes like Dropbox

Pre-Enroll Below

Today I have really exciting news! I have a brand new video program up with THREE classes up right now.

This is probably one of the most exciting projects I’ve undertaken since I decided to make websites for my own clients.

I set up my first website almost seven years ago. I purchased one that was already set up and deconstructed it to understand how it works. Shortly after we had our first client that needed help getting their web business online. Years later and after several clients we still follow the same initial steps to get the site started and secured and there is no shortage of folks needing to start a site.

Doing it yourself on Wix or Squarespace is useful for many people but once you get serious about your business or website it eventually comes time to build something more aligned with your focus and often it comes out to be less money than the monthly fee others charge and you don’t have to be an expert webmaster or developer!

I designed the learn soulful design program both for novices who want to learn new skills, and for experienced techies who are seeking to master a new and impressive set of webmaster skills.

The program is divided into three courses with modules and short videos that will show you how to pick and purchase a new domain, set up web hosting for your website and connect the two to make your website visible from your own domain in the first course.

The other two courses give you actionable ways to secure your new site. I’ll also show you the potential pitfalls to avoid and I’m constantly adding to the program based on student feedback. The outline for securing you site can be found here

You can watch the videos on your own time, start practicing, share with others, and ask me questions if you encounter difficulties along the way.

I’m confident that this program will give you the steps to making the perfect website and securing it. If you’ve never thought of making a website, take a look: you’ll discover a new project to hone your skills.

My class is brand new and I want the maximum number of people to see it. To help me get some visibility, I’m offering new students a limited time offer for the entire program. Click here to pre-enroll and get your spot saved right away! Your pre-enrollment will take one click, it is totally free, and it will help my class gain some traction. Thanks so much for your support!

As an added thank you, the first 25 people to pre-enroll will get early bird access to all of the video content and the exclusive access to all of the plugins and elementor page builder pro. That is over $150/year in plugins for life.

Once you are admited to the program you’ll be free to browse and watch all three courses (including my domain and web hosting basics class!).

Are you ready to make a website? I can’t wait to hear your feedback and see what you’ll create after completing the program.

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Pre-Enroll Now: Build & Secure A Website Quickly

Get your website up in minutes & secure it with ease! Pre-enroll below to get started.

Pre-Enroll Here

Securing Your Website Course Outline