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Protecting Customer Data during Peak Shopping Seasons

a guy sitting on a laptop and protecting customer data

Since more businesses are going online, customers’ personal data becomes even more important for hackers who leverage it on the dark web. With Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holidays ahead of you, as a business owner, you can expect increased website traffic and with it – higher risk of data breaches.

Protecting customer data during these peak shopping seasons is crucial for your business in terms of brand reputation and trust, customer loyalty and protection, laws compliance and cyber attacks prevention.

Increased Cybersecurity Threats

Customer data leakage has indeed become one of the biggest security threats of our time. According to Statista, as of 2023, the global average cost per single data breach amounted to $4.45 million, where the average cost varies across sectors. The highest average cost is in the healthcare industry, with each leak costing the affected party $10.1 million.

In 2022, the most common cause of a cyber attack in the USA was email phishing, according to data by Statista. Some other common threats faced by retailers and consumers include website malware and ransomware, data breaches, identity theft, and others.

The Implications of Data Breaches

All of the above-mentioned cyber attacks can have a huge negative impact on your business. Let’s explore a few ways why is data security important:

  • Impact on customer trust and brand reputation

To operate with customers’ information means that customers have trusted you with their personal data. If you suffer any data breach, even not your direct fault, your customers will lose their trust in your business. In turn, this will result in you losing customers and profits. Brand reputation damage and negative PR are the other long-term damages.

  • Legal and regulatory consequences

A data breach will cost your business not only your customers, profits and reputation, but big financial losses. On one hand, you can be held liable for failing to comply with privacy regulations, which in turn can result in a lawsuit with financial consequences, i.e. regulatory fines.

For example, if you collect personal information of EU residents, the applicable law for your business will be GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), or if you collect consumer data of residents of California, USA, you’ll be subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and so on. Such regulations and laws will apply if your customers are residents of these countries, even if your business is not located there.

Essential Measures for Client Data Protection: Securing Data Systems

To avoid a data system breach, implement these essential measures to secure data systems:

  • Keep data systems up-to-date and patched

One of the most common reasons why data systems get hacked are security vulnerabilities in softwares which get exploited by cyber criminals. It’s important to keep an eye on patch releases for the softwares you use and implement them in due time. These will not only bring your software up-to-date, but also keep your data safe.

When you’re using a lot of different softwares, this could be tedious work on its own. SiteGround clients that use WordPress, take advantage of our WordPress auto-update feature. It automatically updates all WordPress installations, hosted with us, and ensures that our customers’ WordPress sites are secure and up-to-date.

  • Implement robust access controls and encryption techniques

Your access point is another common source of a security vulnerability. To increase security and reduce the risk of data breach, implement the usage of a password management tool which will create, encrypt and store smart passwords for you and your employees for all the tools you access with a password. A tool like this will take care of static data, but now let’s take a look at what happens to data that’s in transit.

A lot of traffic may go through your website, including sensitive information like login credentials and credit card details of your customers. To keep all these protected, you need to encrypt them. An SSL certificate can easily encrypt all this data and it is essential for your website security. SiteGround clients, for instance, leverage free SSL certificates on every web hosting plan we offer.

Enhanced Security Measures and Increased Vigilance during Peak Shopping Seasons

Even though the above-mentioned steps are crucial to begin with, there are some enhanced security measures to follow in order to manage data security protection:

Implementing intrusion detection and prevention systems

You need to have your website scanned regularly for potential threats. Start by implementing an anti-virus and anti-malware software or prevention system. Make sure the tool you choose is reviewed and approved by your security team and  the team is in control of it at all times. This will allow you and your employees to stay up-to-date with the latest security measures and updates.

SiteGround clients have the opportunity to leverage our Site Scanner service that helps protect their websites from malware. Our Site Scanner constantly crawls web pages to detect the latest threats that might affect a website, warns clients about such potential threats at an early stage and in a timely manner and gives them tools for reaction, in case their sites are under attack.

For WordPress users, we have an all-in-one security solution – our free Security Optimizer plugin. It’s available to all WordPress users (no matter where they’re hosted) and provides them with all the security measures they need to keep sites safe. The plugin protects sites on application level (hides WordPress version; disables themes & plugins editor, etc.), provides advanced protection, such as locking and protecting system folders, enabling advanced XSS protection, hardens login security, and many other features.

Conducting regular security audits and monitoring network traffic

Even if you implement all these security measures, you still need to monitor your website security status regularly. You need to keep an eye on your site’s security status at least once a month, yet this could take some time, effort and money. As a business owner, you probably have lots on your plate, so you might consider outsourcing this activity.

SiteGround clients receive free monthly security reports, delivered straight into their inboxes. We automatically monitor our clients’ websites and send them detailed summary results, along with actionable tips on what they can improve to reduce the security threats, in case we detect any weak areas on their websites.

Collaboration with Logistics Partners

With all the enhanced security measures in force, you then need to think about your collaboration with logistics partners, i.e. the participants which provide the cloud computing services, such as Google Cloud, AWS (Amazon Web Services), or Microsoft Azure, for instance. Effective communication and collaboration are key for ensuring secure handling of customer information throughout the supply chain. Companies working together is also important for reducing costs, improving service quality and flexibility. 

To achieve all these, they need to communicate openly, share common goals and have trust in the partnership. Should they succeed in their collaboration, this will result in different advantages, such as improved customer satisfaction, better risk management and even cost savings. 

For example, companies like Amazon or Apple handle sensitive customer data. If they don’t follow strict client data protection standards, there’s always a chance for potential vulnerabilities in the data protection chains. Back in 2019, Amazon Web Services faced a data breach, affecting CapitalOne bank’s 100 million customers’ names, social security numbers, credit scores, and credit card data. An ex-employee was found guilty in misconfiguration of cloud storage servers to access and steal the data.

When businesses collaborate closely with logistics partners, they can ensure the implementation of crucial security measures (e.g. encryption, 2-factor authentication and others). Effective communication and strong relationships with logistics partners are essential factors for a successful overall performance and data security protection.

Employee Awareness and Training

Now that you’ve secured your website on all levels, it’s important to make sure that your employees are also up-to-date with the latest security measures in order to prevent weak points. Start by educating your employees about security best practices. To mitigate human errors, conduct regular security awareness training and checks. Educate employees about the most common security threats, such as phishing, in order to prevent hackers from stealing their credentials and personal details.

Our website can be a good starting point with tons of useful security resources. Visit the security category on the SiteGround blog to get more information on website security topics.

Transparent Communication with Customers

An essential next step is to have transparent communication with your customers about your privacy policy and how you handle their data.

You need to have clear, written Privacy Policy and Data Handling Practices. Important points to cover in it include who can access your customers’ data and in what ways, as well as how their data will be used and how it should not be handled.

Publish the Privacy Policy on your business website and communicate it to your customers, informing them how you collect, store, use and protect data privacy. Keep them in the loop about the latest changes and updates to your privacy policy.

Educating Customers on Secure Online Shopping

Being a customer during peak shopping seasons has its security threats as well. To protect  personal information, be cautious of phishing emails, use strong passwords and update your devices and software regularly.

What is one step you can take to protect your personal information? Learn at least four good ways on how to protect your data and yourself from phishing and online scams in our dedicated blog post.

Developing an Incident Response Plan

In the unfortunate event of a security breach happening, it’s a good idea to have an incident response plan, developed in advance. Draft thorough steps on how you would contain a data breach or security incident. These should include timely notification of affected customers and/or employees and open cooperation with the relevant cybersecurity authorities. When it comes to a security incident, communication is key. Make sure your employees can report suspicious activities to your data protection security team (or data protection officer), as well as ensure that your customers are informed at all times of any suspicious behavior. Beware what you share with your customers and provide them only with the essential information they need.

With the peak shopping season just ahead of all of us, we can not stress enough on how important protecting customer data is. Ensuring security data protection is key for your business, as it will keep your customers’ trust, brand reputation and your success levels high. Implement the data protection security measures you learned from this article for a successful and secure shopping season. Add a comment below to share with us other security measures that have worked well for your business data privacy or tell us more about your general data protection strategy.

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Revolutionizing Customer Support: Welcome to the Future with SiteGround’s AI Assistant

ai bot answering to clients' questions

In the relentless race to provide unparalleled client satisfaction, companies continually evolve. We, at SiteGround, have proven to be the front-runners when it comes to innovation and improvement. Yet again, we’re embarking on a groundbreaking venture that’s set to redefine your customer support experience – with our new integrated AI assistant in your HelpDesk.

The Game-Changer – Instant AI in your Help Desk!

Gone are the days when you would type in a query and be directed to countless articles to sort through until you find the most relevant one, leaving you even more overwhelmed. Say hello to our cutting-edge Instant AI HelpDesk! It is powered by ChatGPT but heavily trained by SiteGround’s AI engineers and backed by expert prompt engineering, to provide accurate answers and address our clients’ specific inquiries via a broad spectrum of frequently asked questions and manual grading of responses.

The Evolution of AI in SiteGround’s Support Journey

Our AI journey started years ago with an AI-powered search feature. A fantastic tool, it seamlessly directed you to relevant articles within our extensive Knowledge Base. But now, we’re elevating that experience with the integration of ChatGPT by OpenAI. Not only does our AI Assistant fetch all relevant articles, but it also comprehends and consolidates the information to give you a precise response, crafted just for you! Imagine a world where AI doesn’t just find the right answer, but understands and delivers it as if it’s directly responding to a question in conversation. That’s our new reality!

Staggering Accuracy, backed by Fine-tuning and Stellar Prompt Engineering

Our specialized AI team has been burning the midnight oil, ensuring that our AI Assistant is not just smart but ‘SiteGround Smart’. Using the power of both GPT-3.5 and GPT-4.0, fine tuning AI models and taking advantage of expert prompt engineering, ensures swift, accurate, and tailored responses for our customers. Here are the facts:

85% of the answers from our AI Assistant hit the bullseye! To be more accurate: a total of 96% of the replies generated by our AI Assistant are correct, but needed a bit more polishing to match the high standards, tone of voice and level of helpfulness that we’re after.

These staggering numbers in just a few months of work are a testament to the significance of fine-tuning models, constant prompt engineering improvements and the enthusiasm our team has invested into creating one more trendsetting tool for our clients’ convenience.

Engage, Explore, & Elevate Your Experience

Available exclusively for our valued SiteGround customers, you can reach our AI Assistant anytime via Client Area > Help Center > Instant AI Help. Each answer is a goldmine of information, often laced with links for a deeper dive. And guess what? We’re counting on you to make it even better! At the end of each response, we’ve provided a quick rating system. Your feedback is our treasure, guiding us to refine and perfect.

Join the AI Evolution

The beauty of AI lies in its potential to learn and evolve. As you engage with it, our AI Assistant sharpens, ensuring you always get the right solution, in an instant. Based on your direct feedback, we’re also expanding and improving our extensive Knowledge Base even more – we’ve added over 60 new articles and topics after the introduction of our AI Assistant.

Dive into this futuristic experience now and be part of our AI revolution. We’re waiting for your feedback! With SiteGround, the future isn’t tomorrow; it’s today!

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Improved SiteGround Email Marketing Tool, Now With Lead Generation Plugin for WordPress

Improved SiteGround Email Marketing tool, now with lead generation plugin for WordPress

Crafting a successful online presence is an on-going process. From curating engaging content to showcasing your standout products or services, you’ve done it all. But despite all your efforts to engage users on your website, do you still find visitors leaving without taking any action? It’s time to transform those missed opportunities into meaningful connections.

At SiteGround, we totally get the ups and downs of building an online presence. So, here’s some good news: we’ve just improved our SiteGround Email Marketing tool with the new Lead Generation Plugin for WordPress. We crafted an easy way to encourage visitors to engage, subscribe to your email list, and become part of your brand’s journey. Even if you’re new to email marketing, we’re here to sprinkle a bit of magic on your journey.

Build your email list and generate high-quality leads with SiteGround

Lead generation is about connecting with real people who genuinely vibe with what you offer. Your website? That’s where you can find high-quality leads. And, with SiteGround’s new lead generation plugin and email marketing tool, you can attract them with sign-up forms, nurture your leads and clients, and ultimately, increase conversions.

Easy plugin setup and integration

If you’re new to building an email list, don’t worry! Just download and activate our new lead generation plugin for WordPress. Easily connect the plugin with your SiteGround email marketing account, so anyone who signs up will automatically land in your contacts as a “Subscriber”.

Create a form in minutes

Easily create your sign-up form and greet your new subscribers with a “successful subscription” message. Plus, you can assign Groups for each form you make for precise audience segmentation. This ensures that the right message always reaches the right person.

Add a form on your site with ease

SiteGround makes it easy to embed a form on your website, allowing you to connect with users and grow your mailing list. Once you create your form, we’ll provide a handy shortcode for you to place wherever you like on your website. Alternatively, you can seamlessly integrate the form using WordPress Blocks within your WordPress editor – just search for our plugin and pop it in.

Built to match your brand

Whether you use Gutenberg or Elementor for your website, our forms seamlessly adapt to your website’s style, ensuring a consistent brand look. Plus, you can tweak fonts and colors to suit your taste perfectly within your WordPress editor.

More ways to engage

Our plugin seamlessly integrates a sign-up checkbox into your WooCommerce checkout and standard WordPress forms. This gives visitors various and convenient ways to hop onto your mailing list.

Why embed a form on your website?

Putting a form on your website is a smart move. Here’s why: 

Build your email list

Collecting email addresses to build your mailing list is the starting point for any email marketing campaign. It allows you to nurture relationships, share updates, and promote special offers directly to those who have shown interest in your brand.

Engage your audience

Adding a form to your website creates an opportunity for visitors to connect with your brand. This establishes a direct line of communication and helps engage your audience, turning casual visitors into loyal customers.

Market your brand with easy email marketing

Build and grow your email list with our new lead generation plugin for WordPress and start sending the right message to the right audience with our intuitive SiteGround Email Marketing tool. Craft compelling campaigns to engage your audience and drive growth, creating a full brand experience.

Ready to boost your email marketing? If you’re a SiteGround client, simply log into your Client Area -> Marketplace -> Email marketing. Once you’ve added the service, you can easily find and download our lead generation plugin in the SiteGround Email Marketing Dashboard under Contacts -> Connect WP Site.

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WCUS 2023 In a Nutshell

david wolfpaw wordcamp us

As an organizer of WordCamp US 2023, I am overjoyed with how the event turned out. This was my first in-person WordCamp in nearly four years, and it did not disappoint. There were insightful sessions, plenty of fruitful networking opportunities, and community engagement that made this WordCamp a tremendous success. This was my first time helping to organize such a large-scale WordCamp, and the experience was rewarding.

Community Summit

The first two full days that I was in Washington DC were the Community Summit. There were dozens of discussions, brainstorming sessions, and planning for the future of WordPress. While I can’t speak to specifics of the event, raw notes for each session are available on the Make Summit site.

My personal highlight discussion was the session on DEIB and the WordPress community. While the conversation itself was convivial, the hard and harsh reality of the negative aspects of the community made it a stressful discussion to be a part of. Still, I’m hopeful from this and other sessions that we’ve identified areas where we can improve, and more importantly some methods that can help to get us there.

The WordPress community deserves the best and has the ability to do better all the time. This summit was proof of that!

Contributor Day

Part of WordCamp US 2023 that I had a lot of input and focus on was Contributor Day. A Contributor Day is part of a WordCamp where the WordPress community comes together to work on the project itself. Whether it is writing code for core and plugins and themes, translating things, making new educational content, or finding ways that the community can bring others in, there are a lot of ways to get involved.

One of the most important things for Contributor Day this year was to ensure that we were welcoming new contributors as best as possible. I have been to many contributor days, and most follow a similar format. The organizers share a brief overview of the different Make teams, groups split up and try to figure out how to get into the wifi and on Slack, they work on things throughout the day, then share at the end what they worked on.

This time, we decided to cut out the first and last portion, since teams provide updates at their own pace, and can also post them online. Instead, we had new contributors arrive an hour earlier than returning contributors to go through an onboarding session. We also gave color-coded bandanas to team leads and new contributor guides to make them easy to find. The new contributor guides were important to make sure that people felt comfortable walking up to someone and knowing that they could ask questions without bothering them.

“Contributor Day is one of the things that I was most looking forward to.”

~ david wolfpaw

Of everything about WordCamp US this year, Contributor Day is one of the things that I was most looking forward to. Not just because I helped to organize it, but because it would be one of the first times in years that so many people involved in WordPress were able to gather in person and work on the project in groups. Being able to collaborate remotely is great, but having those in person hours to really hash things out together is priceless.

“This has to have been one of the largest contributor days ever for a WordCamp. Around 500 people came together to work on writing code, creating documentation, doing translations, developing training, and doing things that make WordPress better all around.“

~ david wolfpaw

One of the downsides to being an organizer means that I didn’t get to be quite as involved as I’d like to be. Instead of sitting down with the Community team or one of the coding teams, I was constantly checking in to make sure that everyone had what they needed to succeed. It was a good problem to have, but it kept me away from having the same experience. Still, I am thankful that I was able to play my small role in ensuring a good day. While I couldn’t solve every problem that came up on Contributor Day, I still helped to put together a space where all of these contributors could do work, and where new contributors could learn and get involved. I’m proud of the work done this year, and I look forward to the recap so that we can learn what worked and what didn’t to refine again for next year.

If you have any interest in how to get involved in the WordPress community, check out make.wordpress.org to see the teams that you can get involved with, and how to contact each of them.

Conference Days

After the Community Summit and Contributor Day, I was already three days into WordCamp US before we even got to the actual main event. To say that I was running low on energy is an understatement! Even my daily morning iced espresso wasn’t enough on its own to keep me focused on the day.

What really kept me focused and active were the wonderful conversations that I had. This was with old friends who I hadn’t seen in person in nearly four years, as well as new friends who I got to learn about and bond with throughout the week. Nothing perks you up like an interesting conversation with an engaging partner. 

I started my conference days by helping with registration. The first hour of day one is the most physically active, as everyone is arriving at the venue at the same time to check in. While there were booths setup to print badges, it still caused a queue to form, so I helped by handing out lanyards and pins in advance, and sharing information on when and where events were, as well as preparing attendees to go to the sponsor area and to get their attendee shirts.

Honestly, the meat of WordCamp US 2023 was the two conference days at the end. Over 30+ sessions there were speakers, new and old, sharing their experiences and knowledge with eager audiences. I sat in on sessions where I could, and as expected everything was well prepared and interesting. I came away with even more notes and ideas on projects to work on when the conference is over.

The Expo Hall

Sometimes people avoid the expo hall at events because sponsors and vendors can feel a bit spammy. The feeling is that they will do anything to sell you on their products, and that they don’t provide real value. At WordCamps this can’t be farther from the truth. These are companies that underpin the community, and their employees literally help make the community and code happen. I’ve always found people to be there because they want to be, not because their company made them attend.

“These are companies that underpin the community, and their employees literally help make the community and code happen.“

~ david wolfpaw

Part of my day was spent with my friends at SiteGround at their booth. I love folks walking up to me and asking me questions about hosting, considering that I use multiple hosts and don’t work for SiteGround. I can honestly answer about the pros and cons about various hosts, and the fact that I have been a consistent customer for a decade at this point. People really seem to want to know more about businesses in the sponsor area of WordCamps, and not just pass by for the free swag. That said, the swag was pretty nice! I already put a foil SiteGround unicorn sticker on my coffee cup, and the tote bag will be getting a lot of use.

If you ever find yourself at a WordCamp, don’t skip out on the sponsor hall!

“It’s where you’ll make great connections, meet new people, and find companies to work with.”

~ david wolfpaw

Most Valuable Lesson as an Organizer

Undoubtedly, the most valuable lesson I took away from being a small part of the WordCamp 2023 organizing team was the significance of meticulous planning and effective delegation. Coordinating a large event like this requires a well-structured timeline, clear communication, and a dedicated team. By delegating tasks to individuals with specific expertise, the team was able to ensure that each aspect of the event was well-executed and no detail was overlooked.

Additionally, I witnessed the importance of adaptability and contingency planning. Despite our best efforts, unforeseen challenges will always arise, and this WordCamp was no exception. Being prepared to pivot and find solutions on the spot helped us maintain a smooth experience for attendees and speakers alike.

The most important takeaway when it comes to adaptability is to listen in the moment to attendees, and to ensure that the full volunteer and organizing team are ready to report any issues that they see. We organized via Slack, and the proper person to solve a problem was ready to see and react as soon as an issue was spotted. Whether updating signage, changing a room for talks when the existing one didn’t work out properly, or helping attendees with individual needs, we were ready to respond.

Future Involvement

Would I help to organize WordCamp US or another WordCamp again in the future? Absolutely. This is far from my first event, but it was my first event as an organizer in four years.

I feel like I have a renewed sense of commitment to the WordPress community. Having to meet remotely only led to a bit of burnout.

“As someone who works almost exclusively online, the in-person events are a lifeline and reminder that none of us are in this alone.”

~ david wolfpaw

WordCamp US 2023 was one of my most memorable events yet, and I appreciate the support given to me by SiteGround and everyone else who made it an enjoyable and fruitful conference.

I hope to see you at WordCamp US 2024!

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PHP 8.3 (Beta 3) Is Now Available for Testing on SiteGround Servers

PHP elephant and laptop monitors

We are excited to announce that PHP 8.3 (Beta 3) is now available for testing on all SiteGround servers. Yet, again thanks to our unique multiple-PHP server setup, we are able to provide the latest PHP versions safely to anyone who wants to test them, almost immediately upon their official beta release. This means we are once again among the first companies to offer PHP 8.3 (Beta 3) for testing on our hosting platform 🎉🎉🎉. 

Continue reading this blog post to discover more about the new features of the latest PHP version.

PHP 8.4: Stay Updated! 🚀 Check out our latest blog post to explore the newest features and enhancements in PHP 8.4.

New Features

Let’s delve into some of the new features that PHP 8.3 Beta 3 brings to the table. This version may not be highlighted by sweeping changes or major upgrades, but it introduces a few key features that could significantly enhance the PHP development experience.

gc_status() Returns Additional GC Information

Long-running daemons and cron jobs have always been a weak part in PHP in general. However, with PHP 8.3, the gc_status() function now returns additional garbage collection (GC) information. This is a significant improvement for developers who need to manage memory usage in long-running scripts. More information about this feature can be found here.

class_alias() Supports Aliasing Built-in PHP Classes

Another exciting feature in PHP 8.3 is the ability to alias built-in PHP classes using the class_alias() function. This allows PHP developers to hook up into built-in classes and overwrite classes or declarations in them. This feature opens up a world of possibilities for extending and customizing the behavior of built-in PHP classes.

json_validate() Function

Another exciting addition in PHP 8.3 is the json_validate() function. This function validates if a string contains valid JSON, providing a more efficient alternative to userland implementations that use json_decode(). The json_decode() function generates a ZVAL (object/array/etc.) while parsing the string, using memory and processing that could be saved. The json_validate() function uses the same JSON parser that exists in the PHP core and is used by json_decode(), ensuring that what is valid in json_validate() is also valid in json_decode().

Changelog  with all language and library changes in PHP 8.3 could be find at https://wiki.php.net/rfc#php_83 

How to test PHP 8.3 (Beta 3) on SiteGround Servers

Now, with a one-button click in your SiteTools -> Devs section you’re able to replace the current PHP version used by your website with PHP 8.3 (Beta 3). It is important to emphasize on the fact that this is PHP 8.3 in its Beta 3 version. This means it is available for testing purposes mostly and as always we strongly advise you not to use it at your production site before the stable release date (November 23, 2023). If you want to test it with an existing site, set up a new site for testing, clone your production site into it, and play with that – our WordPress Staging tool is perfect for that purpose. When you are done, you can just delete it.

As you explore your new testing environment, check your log files after every test. Make sure nothing fails and see if any new warnings or errors pop up.

Wrap Up

PHP 8.3 Beta 3 may not be marked by major upgrades, but it introduces a set of key features that could significantly enhance the PHP development experience – improvements to readonly classes, the new gc_status(), class_alias() and json_validate() functions, additions to the recently added Randomizer class, stack overflow detection, and more. That is not it for sure but there is enough time to “play” with the new PHP 8.3 (Beta 3) version and explore all sidekicks it might bring on before the official release. 

Last but not least – remember, at SiteGround, we are committed to providing our clients with the latest and greatest in PHP technology well ahead of the others. Stay tuned for more updates and happy coding with PHP 8.3 (Beta 3)!

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How to Get Ready for WordCamp USA 2023

WordCamp USA 2023 Insider Series SiteGround

Welcome to my series about life at a major WordCamp! My name is David Wolfpaw, and I am a SiteGround Ambassador, WordPress developer, and have been a WordCamp organizer since 2012. This year the SiteGround team and I decided to give you an insider perspective from the flagship WordCamp North America event, where I’ll be happily volunteering as an organizer.

WordCamps are annual gatherings of business owners, bloggers, developers, designers, and anyone else with an interest in WordPress. They take place all over the world, and are a core part of the WordPress community.

The flagship event for North America, WordCamp US, starts this week. I’ve been attending them for years, and I’m excited for my first WordCamp US where I will be volunteering as an event organizer. My intent with this series is to share my firsthand experience at the event, as well as some behind-the-scenes planning work, and tips to make the most of attending a WordCamp, or any other professional conference.

The most important things at a professional event like WordCamps are the following:

  • Networking and making connections for your business
  • Getting valuable information and ideas from speakers
  • Finding the fulfillment in your WordPress journey

Throughout the week I’ll be offering ideas and resources on how to achieve the above, and how better to start than with pre-event planning? Today we’ll discuss:

  • Finding sessions to attend
  • Connecting with speakers
  • Finding other attendees in your space
  • Ensuring that travel and tools are planned

Crafting a Session Schedule

The wide variety of sessions available at a flagship WordCamp like WordCamp US can be overwhelming. This year has over thirty sessions across two days in three rooms, and that’s toned down from years prior! With so many sessions, it can be hard to figure out what to prioritize.

When I look to the schedule I have a few criteria in mind. Sometimes I look to the speakers, looking for names that I know from social media and blogs. Sometimes I read through every session description, taking note of technologies and tools that I’ve been interested in learning, or just choosing based on an interesting title. There have been a lot of serendipitous session choices in the past, like a session on web publishing that I attended solely because I liked the speaker, and it turned into a conversation that led to a new client.

If you see multiple sessions that you want to attend at the same time, check to see if they will be recorded. Most WordCamps record their sessions to later post to WordPress.tv, making it easier to avoid the FOMO that comes from two great talks happening at once.

Connecting with Speakers

The conversations that you have at a WordCamp can easily be the most valuable part of attending the event in person. Content is great, but connections are better. Getting face-time with speakers can put you on their radar when it comes to work. As both an event speaker, and an attendee, I’ve found that it really breaks the ice to have something to talk about already, which can easily lead to further conversations. Most of my clients have come from word-of-mouth, including from speakers and attendees at WordCamps.

You don’t just have to wait until the event to reach out though! I don’t recommend blindly spamming all event speakers, but look through bios and talk descriptions and see if there are any individuals that you want to ensure that you connect with. Send them a short message, expressing your interest and excitement for their presentation, and your wish to say hi during the conference. Event speakers have already put themselves out there by applying to speak, and absolutely want to share with attendees.

Finally, make sure that you find out what communication methods the speakers that you’ve connected with in person prefer for followups after the event. Again, they came to share and they want to talk to attendees as well! Don’t be afraid to talk to them, and don’t be afraid to follow up later if they share contact information with you.

Networking with Attendees

Speakers aren’t the only people that you’ll want to connect with at WordCamp. You’ll also want to find like-minded attendees who you can build business relationships with.

It’s easy to assume that anyone else working in the same space as you is a direct competitor, but WordCamps are a great example of the opposite. I have met plenty of other WordPress maintenance providers who could be considered competitors to my company, FixUpFox. But I’ve met other agency owners who shared tips with me, passed along client contacts, and have become clients themselves.

We all have our own niches and specialties, and when the customer who just isn’t right for you comes along, but you know someone who might be a better fit, wouldn’t you want to pass them along? And you’ll be on the top of their mind when they have clients that fit your niche in return.

Preparing your Tools and Travel

WordCamp US has made part of my travel easier, by hosting in a convention center with a hotel, making it easy to get around the event. But prior to the event I needed to make sure that I had a flight to a nearby airport, a ride lined up for there and home, and I’ve checked the train schedules in advance to ensure that I can easily go from airport to hotel.

I’m also making sure to create a packing list, ensuring that I have everything that I need to stay connected and comfortable at the event. Take a bit of time to think about what you need while at a conference, from clothing to coffee, toiletries to technology. And while you’re at it, check out the SiteGround TikTok account for some quick tips and additional resources for preparing for WordCamps.

One more tip that I want to make sure to address is to listen to your body and focus on your health before, during, and after events. I unfortunately had to skip my last WordCamp because I got sick, and I didn’t want to spread that to any other attendees. I’ll be watching my health this week, including while I’m at the event. 

Sometimes you just need some quiet time to yourself, and that’s ok! You’ll never be able to do everything at an event, but that’s ok. Knowing that there are limits to the number of sessions that you can attend and the number of people that you can talk to means you can prioritize what is most important to you at the moment.

Finally, take care of yourself post-event. It is easy to get caught up in the emotions of an event where you are surrounded with hundreds or thousands of like-minded attendees. Then you get back home, to your day job, where you have the daily grind of life to attend to. If you have the ability, take a day off after the event to rest and recharge. Even extroverts can get worn out from lots of social time.

More to Come

Follow along for the rest of the week while I share the journey to WordCamp US as an organizer and attendee. And if you are attending yourself, come say hi!

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SiteGround Kids Summer Academy: A Week of Fun, Learning, and Values

SiteGround Kids Week Academy

This August, I had the pleasure of having my children attend the SiteGround Kids Summer Academy, a week-long event for the kids of all SiteGround employees in all our office locations. The academy takes place for a second year in a row, and it was packed with activities that were both fun and educational for a total of over 100 children, all in different age groups.

Kids in the office? Mission possible 

The idea behind the academy every year is to help the parents on our team during the Summer months when most of the children are off from school. We try to craft a unique “Summer camp in the office” experience, tailored to the interests of every age group so that it’s at the same time fun, useful, and inspiring for the little ones. If you’re a parent, it really means the world not having to stress about your kids’ Summer activities for at least a week, and it really helps you feel more relaxed, happier, and productive at work. And as for the kids – they are having the time of their lives. 

They had a very well-structured schedule for every day, with professional guides, instructors, and caregivers managing the different age groups at all times. Even better –  the Academy was built with great care for the people working in the office as well so that it does not affect our work process – thankfully we have plenty of spaces in and around the SiteGround offices to accommodate both work and fun for everyone! So while the kids were having a blast, me and my co-workers were able to focus on work, knowing that our children were in good hands. In addition to sports, educational labs, and workshops, all SiteGround kids enjoyed healthy meals in our office restaurants, with plenty of time to make new friends – even some of the grown-ups were sneaking in for some ice cream and treats in the afternoon breaks with the kids.

Our Shared Values 

One of the things that makes SiteGround Kids Summer Academy so special is it is driven by the inherent values of our team. This year we took this further, and dedicated each day of the Kids week to one of SiteGround’s core values:

  • Work with purpose: we teach kids how to set goals and work hard to achieve them.
  • Respect yourself and others: we stress on the importance of treating everyone with respect, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, or else.
  • Challenge yourself: we encourage kids to try new things and step outside of their comfort zones.
  • Do everything with care: we promote care for the environment and everything around us in everything we do;
  • Innovate through technology: we provoke the kids’ interest in new technological advancements and how they can be used to solve problems.

Learn and Have Fun

In addition to learning and applying the SiteGround values, the kids also have the opportunity to develop new skills and talents. They participated in sports, learned about robotics, took part in space training, recycling workshops and much more.

SiteGround Kids Summer Academy is a truly unique and valuable experience for both the kids and the parents. There are many factors that contribute to one’s sense of engagement and commitment to their team and company. However, I believe that the key element is community, care, and shared values. When we feel like we are part of a real community, where we can share values, build together, invent, have fun, support each other, and take care of each other with respect and a smile, the magic happens. As a SiteGround employee, I’m proud to say that our company is committed to include families in that as well.

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SiteGround wins one Gold and one Bronze Stevie® Awards in 2023 International Business Awards®

gold and bronze awards from the International business awards Stevie

SiteGround is now a 4-time Stevie Award Winner for Customer Service Excellence

SiteGround was named the winner of one Gold and one Bronze Stevie® Award in the Corporate & Community – Green Event and Customer Service Department of the Year categories in The 20th Annual International Business Awards®.

The Stevie Awards are the world’s top honors for customer service, contact center, business development and sales professionals. This year’s awards had more than 3,700 nominations from organizations in 61 nations and territories and Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 230 executives worldwide who participated in the judging process in June and July.

SiteGround won a Gold Stevie® Award for supporting The Shackleton Mission and promoting the cause of adding over 4,000,000 km2 in the Southern Ocean as protected areas. “We believe that success lies only outside the comfort zone, that the courage to follow a dream, even if everyone tells you it’s impossible, makes you a true adventurer and a true entrepreneur. This similarity is at the heart of our support for this mission. We are glad that it was not only successfully completed, and ended up with 8 Guinness World Records, but more importantly, that it raises an alarm about the protection of the oceans and the protection of nature in general: a cause that we hold very dear and find close to our company values”, shared Tenko Nikolov, CEO and Ivo Tzenov, founder of SiteGround.

SiteGround’s Bronze Stevie® Award is presented for the excellent work shown by the company Customer Care team and their exceptional results, also underlined in the honorable Jury evaluation: “I was impressed by how the team consistently increased the chat satisfaction ratio from 96.04% in 2020 to 98.57% in 2022.” At SiteGround we have always taken pride in the level of customer service that we provide. What sets us apart is precisely the care for our customers, the attention to every detail, the responsibility to provide the best assistance and that helped us to grow and to develop and become a leader in the international technology market.

This is the second time SiteGround’s customer support team has been recognized for its excellence by the The International Business Awards. In 2020 the company was awarded the People’s Choice Stevie® Award for Favorite Customer Service and the Silver Stevie®Award for Customer Service Department of the Year in the Computer Hardware & Services category.

“For us, optimizing our customer experience is a never-ending process, and we are committed to going above and beyond, thanks to the extreme dedication of our team and the priceless support of our loyal clients,” said Reneta Tsankova, Chief Operations Officer, SiteGround. “Being recognized at the Stevie Awards in this way inspires us to keep building the best customer experience we can.”

Details about The International Business Awards and the lists of Stevie Award 2023 winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

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Service in French Now Available at SiteGround

the map of France with the French flag announcing SiteGround service available in French

We believe that customizing our services for the local markets is key to an accessible, convenient and high-quality experience for our customers. We have already done this for our Spanish, Italian and German-speaking clients and we’re now proud to say that we have just added French to the list of languages we provide service in.

In the past few years the support and love we have received from our French clients and partners has been overwhelming. We’ve always wanted to do more for them and just recently we have expanded our datacenter and CDN network with a new location in Paris, France to improve loading speed and user experience for local businesses and individuals. The logical next step was to offer service in French and what better time to do that than the week of Bastille Day – the French national holiday!

Apart from the local fr.siteground.com site now available to all French visitors, SiteGround customers can now switch their language and start using their Client Area, Site Tools, knowledge base and tutorials, blog and support communication in French.

Switch your language to French

You can now easily change your current language preferences for your SiteGround service to French. Just go to the Profile page in your Client Area and select French in the Language dropdown. Once you have done this, your Client Area and Site Tools interfaces will appear in French. 

The change will also affect the rest of your SiteGround content – all tutorials, knowledge base articles, blog posts and support communication will now be in French. Changing back or switching to another language is just as easy. 

For more complex technical issues, you’ll be able to post support questions on chat and/or ticket in your preferred language and receive replies from our representatives in French as well. Please note that for all service languages except English, support communication may be aided by custom implementation of Google translate.

Migrate to our Paris datacenter

If the majority of your site visitors are located in France, you may consider moving your site(s) to our datacenter in Paris. This will significantly improve your site loading speed and overall customer experience for French visitors. And in case you only have occasional or a smaller portion of your visitors coming from France, make sure that you have our in-house built SiteGround CDN enabled – with its new CDN node in Paris, your French visitors will get faster, close to local loading speed.

You can move any of your existing sites to our new datacenter in Paris by ordering their relocation in your Client Area > Marketplace > Hosting Services > Relocation. You can relocate individual sites, hosted on a shared web hosting service, or your entire Cloud hosting account, if you are using Cloud hosting service.

If you’re an existing SiteGround client from France, all new sites you create on StartUp, GrowBig and GoGeek plans will be hosted by default in the new Paris datacenter for your convenience. Paris will be your default location for newly ordered Cloud hosting plans as well.

Adapting the user experience of our French clients is just another step towards our continuous commitment to offering optimized experience for our diverse international clients. As we celebrate this milestone, we look forward to providing faster, smoother and more personalized experience to every SiteGround customer.

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My First SiteGround Team Festival

SiteGround employees at SiteGround Team Festival 2023

This June marked the 5th SiteGround Team Festival, but for me it was the first one. Even though I joined the company more than two years ago, it was right after the pandemic hit and the world just stopped, so it took a while, but the wait was so worth it. My bar of expectations was already set pretty high, as I had heard legends about the past SiteGround Festivals (in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), even before I joined the team. Indeed, it turned out to be so much more than a team building event, more than a festival – an experience. An epic one.

🏰 A tour of the festival’s location

Our Team Festival was located in the surroundings of a beautiful residence, built in the early 80s. The area around it has large lawns, forests, diversity of plants and animals species, even its own lake! The building itself was quite interesting as well, and everyone had a chance to sign up for a tour inside the place. Here are the top 3 things that stuck in my memory about the backstory of the residence. The building was constructed way back in the 1980s as one of the residences of the social political party leader at the time. All the materials used for building it were produced locally, that was part of the whole idea around the construction. Huge and impressive chandeliers were hanging from the ceilings in every room, hallway, and bedroom. 

The place where it was built was also not chosen at random – they had scientists inspect the air, wind and soil quality carefully before deciding on the construction site. Because of the unique location, surrounded by mountains and wind currents, the air in this exact place is supposed to be one of the cleanest and freshest ones by miles.

🎪 A glimpse of the workshops and activities

Traditionally, our team gathering is a whole festival, it spans two-days of activities and workshops, mostly led by our own colleagues. Our events team does an internal call for workshop suggestions months before the festival, and that’s how the program shapes itself naturally following the interests of the SiteGround people. From compost-making, and birdhouse workshops, to coffee & beer brewing, and screen printing of T-shirts & tote bags – we had it all! Five hundred SiteGrounders could all choose between 10 different workshops, taking up between a few hours and a whole day! The list goes on and on with multiple sports activities from the early morning to the afternoon, again, led by our own professional team instructors – yoga, pilates, workouts, football, volleyball, and table tennis tournaments. Also paintball, slacklining, archery…you name it, we had it.

The diverse range of workshops and sports activities was indeed impressive, one would wonder where we got the power for the fun festival part starting in the evening – because the best was saved for last.

🎸 Let me…entertain you

The evening started out with a whole new portion of entertainment, this time – on the full-blown 30-meter SiteGround music stage. It all began with a stand-up comedy show to warm up the stage for what was about to happen that night:

The return on stage of our in-house band – New Technical Issues that consists entirely of SiteGround employees, proven to be talented not only in fixing technical issues. The team cheered them on and enjoyed their performance so much that they had a hard time leaving the stage, as we wouldn’t let them. Next time they promised to think about a third round of encore! And that was just the beginning!

At SiteGround we work hard every day, and we always put our whole heart and mind into what we do. When we party, we keep that same high bar. That’s why the headliners on the SiteGround Team Festival 2023 were … RUDIMENTAL themselves!

Thanks to them, our team festival cheer echoed around the surrounding woods until late that night – dancing, singing, jumping, shouting. The experience is hard to put into words!

I can’t imagine what organizing such an epic two-day event might look like, but the SiteGround team definitely pulled it off – because, again, we are organizing it ourselves. Apparently, 6 months in the making, only about 5 people in the core organizing team, over 100 outside professionals to help with the campsite site up, music stage, and healthy food catering on the spot, just so that 500 SiteGround team members and guests can rest and nurture their spirit and senses together for two days, for the fifth year now. 

What’s the one thing that I learned from my first SiteGround Team Festival? SiteGrounders are never bored, and never boring.

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