Hosting and Support Services

Secure and reliable hosting

Do you dread talking with tech support? Talk to us instead! Webdancers takes the hassle and stress out of maintaining a website that is both reliable and secure. Websites hosted with us reside on servers that are housed in one of the country’s premier data hosting environments, suitable for any size business. Located in Dallas, TX, this enterprise-grade facility is staffed 24/7 and has multiple connections to the Internet backbone and the electrical grid, providing a secure and reliable hosting environment for your website.

Hosting plans range from shared hosting for low volume sites to virtual private servers for resource-intensive applications. We can advise you on the most cost-effective solutions, now and as you evolve into the future.

Dependable website maintenance

You understand the nuts and bolts of running your business. We understand the nuts and bolts of running your website, and take that responsibility very seriously. Websites under our management include:

  • Protection against malware and hacking attempts
  • Regular file and database backups
  • Continuous monitoring to ensure site accessibility
  • Regular updates to installed software (including WordPress core files, plugins and themes)
  • Periodic advisories about impending changes and software updates to enable you to prepare as needed – no surprises!

Domain name management

Domain name management includes renewals, transfers and proper integration with the Domain Name System (DNS). Managing domains has always been a cumbersome and frustrating process. We relieve our clients of this burden, registering and managing their domains and leaving them free to concentrate on the more important job of running their business.

Here’s something critical you may not know: If your domain name isn’t registered to you, you don’t have control over it, which can be a disaster if you need to move it or make changes. With Webdancers, your domains always belong to you and are registered in your name. Full access to your domain registrations is available on request.

Secure website encryption

Show your customers that you value their security by using SSL/TLS encryption* on your website. This is the technology that displays the familiar padlock icon in the browser, indicating that the connection is secure.

There are three powerful reasons that website encryption makes sense for all websites:

  1. Improved customer confidence. On an encrypted site, visitors can be sure that the data received from the site has not been compromised. In addition, they know that any information that they send to the site is safe and they can easily confirm who owns the site that they’re viewing.
  2. Better search engine rankings. Google recognizes sites that are fully encrypted and considers it a positive signal for search engine ranking. For now, it’s a small additional advantage, and Google has put its considerable weight behind the concept of “secure by default”’.
  3. Faster connections to your site. With the adoption of HTTP/2, modern browsers will use faster connections on a secure site. And site loading time is another strong signal for Google rankings.

As you move around the Internet, take a look at how many sites are now “secure by default”. Webdancers adds domain-verified security to all websites that we host, at no charge**. Other certificate types are quoted on request.

Frequently Asked Questions on Security

Barely. Each server request takes a little more time when using SSL/TLS, about 1-2%. Most site visitors will see no difference at all, aside from the trustworthy little padlock icon.

  • Encrypting only certain pages can be confusing to visitors, who may not understand why some pages are secure while others aren’t, and it may raise concerns about the overall security of your site.
  • A fully secure site makes it nearly impossible for bad actors to impersonate your site or shady advertisers to insert ads (or worse) into your visitor’s connection while they’re on your site (a particular problem at hotel and public hotspots).
  • It’s technically easier to encrypt everything and it requires less ongoing administration.

Some ad networks and content providers don’t provide their embedded content over a secure connection. This can result in “mixed content” messages that make your website look insecure. These may need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

Technically, no, since the entire transaction takes place on PayPal’s servers. But do your customers recognize this? The fact is that they will feel safer buying from a site on which the secure padlock icon is always visible.

The transition to a secure site is seamless from the customer’s viewpoint. What they will see is the reassuring little padlock in the browser. What may be more important is what they don’t see, as most browsers now display warnings when connected to non-secure websites. When your customers feel secure, they stay on your site – and keep coming back.

Websites hosted by Webdancers can obtain domain verified certificates from LetsEncrypt at no charge**. Other certificate types are quoted on request. 

Notes:
*TLS (Transport Layer Security) has replaced SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), however the two terms are used interchangeably.

**Let’s Encrypt is a free, automated, and open certificate authority (CA), run for the public’s benefit. Let’s Encrypt serves as a platform for advancing TLS security best practices. As such, it does not allow connections from older browsers that do not support current encryption standards. If your website needs to support browsers on the Windows XP platform, you must purchase a commercial certificate and use a dedicated IP address.