Article by Wendy McCance
I don’t know if you have noticed, but this blog is now very speedy. I finally took the leap and changed the company I am using for my hosting site. I have wanted to change companies for a few months now. I was using iPage, and was miserable. The site moved slowly or would break down. In fact, I was calling iPage to resolve issues almost once a month. The worst part was some of the customer service agents complicated a bad situation and getting everything unraveled and up and moving again would take hours and sometimes a day or two.
I use this blog as a launching platform for my business. Many clients who use my services have visited my site before signing up to work with me. This site gives them a better idea of what my writing skills are like, what prices I charge and what my social media stats are. I also use this site to do product reviews, advertising and then there is the store. Basically, this site needs to be running as smoothly as possible 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.
Over the last few months, I have seen my Alexa rating bottom out and my Google analytics were suffering as well. I had to make a change to a new host.
I decided to go to LinkedIn and ask some questions in my WordPress Experts group. I am a huge fan of WordPress and figured I would get my best answers by going to a group where the discussions are all WordPress based.
I asked the group what hosting site they thought might be a good fit for WordPress. I was willing to pay more per month for a host that could truly deliver exceptional service. The consensus was that WP Engine would be a terrific choice. This company only deals with WordPress so they understand how the platform works and what is needed to keep things running smoothly. I would no longer be sharing space with other websites, which I found can be a huge reason for a site slowing down. Best of all, you are always notified of which plugins should be installed and which ones you shouldn’t use. A big plus for a non-technical person like myself.
While asking my questions in the LinkedIn group, the first person who responded was Les Faber. He gave me some great advice and followed the conversation as it went along. Over the next few days, Les added information as new points were brought up. I got a great amount of very detailed information and it became obvious that this guy really knew what he was talking about.
Les was one of several people who mentioned WP Engine as a good hosting site. He went through a detailed description of how to backup my site before changing hosts and what to do once I made the switch. There was just one problem, I was terrified to do the switch myself. This site means everything to me. It’s the platform for my business. If the site crashes, I am going to have major financial issues.
I decided to use Les to do the transfer for me. It was the best decision I could have made. Les walked me through the process step by step. Even though I wasn’t backing up the site myself or handling any portion of the switch, he still made sure I knew what he was doing every step of the way. Before he did something new, I would get an email describing what he would like to do (like disabling some plugins) and why it was necessary. He would wait for my approval and then would go on to the next step.
The entire process took under 3 days. While the work was being done, my site never shut down and no one was the wiser that a switch was taking place.
The amount I would be billed for Les to do the work was mentioned up front and was so reasonable, I was surprised. Considering what he had to deal with, and the amount of time he put into the project, I felt bad that he wasn’t charging me more.
Les worked on the project faithfully throughout each day with updates coming in every few hours. I had numerous questions about switching the hosting site and Les was always more than happy to give me some good advice every time I asked. The best part was the responses showed up in my inbox quickly after I asked.
If you are in need of a professional, knowledgeable and trustworthy individual, I highly recommend you check out Les Faber. He really is one of the best people I have worked with.
More about Les Faber:
Company: WebFuel, Inc
Job title: Director of Technology
Certifications: Google Analytics Individual Qualified (GAIQ)
Specialties: WordPress development, Web development, Technical implementations
Traits: Ability to explain technical information to non-technical people, Client focused, Strong personal and professional ethics
Canadian Federal Government Security Clearance: NATO Secret
For more information, please check out these links:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lesfaber
WebFuel Website: http://www.webfuel.ca/
Articles by Les Faber: http://www.webfuel.ca/author/webfueladmin/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/111216211920105500696/posts
To contact Les Faber, please call: 1 (613) 692-1030
Note: I am not being paid to endorse any company or person mentioned in this article. The information provided is based on my own personal experience. When a person or company really impresses me, I feel obligated to share these good experiences with my readers. Just my way of saying thanks and I appreciate you to some wonderful people and companies.
Wendy McCance
To contact Wendy McCance about a writing or social media assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]
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Hi Wendy, do you have any articles you wrote about when you initially changed over from wordpress.com?
Hi Peter, yes there are a few. Try these two: http://www.searchingforthehappiness.com/experience-switching-hosting-sites/ and http://www.searchingforthehappiness.com/what-to-consider-when-changing-a-blog-to-a-dot-com/ If you don’t find what you are looking for, just write your questions in the comment section of any post and I will try to help you out.
Thank you, Wendy. This is good information to know. I think I’ve seen Les in some LinkedIn groups and has always appeared to know his stuff.
I am so pleased with the results. Les wrote up all of the issues he had to deal with to get things switched over on the WordPress Experts group. It’s unreal what he had to deal with. It was definitely the best decision having a professional switch the site over. There were too many issues that would have been disasterous if I had tried to do it myself.
I so get where you’re coming from, Wendy. I admire your courage for plunging ahead keeping things new and fresh. I think that’s why I hesitate so much in making too many changes. I’m afraid of having big-time issues I have no way of knowing how to fix.
If I was going to make some major changes right now, I think I would definitely go the direction you did.
I knew I was way over my head which is why I dragged my feet for so long. It was the huge drop in visits to the site and the increase interest in hiring me that made me finally take the plunge. I figured I was losing a lot of money by continuing with the plan I had.
Well, it certainly looks like it’s a success for you. I’ve noticed your site loads faster too. I’m happy for you.
Thanks so much. 🙂
Great info, Wendy. Good to know. Blessings.
Thanks so much for your comment. Have a great weekend.
Thanks for the great advice and recommendation Wendy, it’s wonderful when you can find someone like Les Faber 🙂
Hi Sherri, my experience was such a good one. The best part is that if you are familiar with this site, you can see for yourself the difference in speed. I wish I had a bigger group of “go to people” that were so fantastic.
Yes, it is really fast 🙂
Thanks for the kudos (plug) Wendy. I appreciate it very much. You did make a good choice with switching to WPEngine. I was very happy to help / tutor you. You’re a great person to deal with! So, of course, everything was destined to go well.
Thanks so much Les. You provided excellent service and were wonderful to work with.
Wendy, thanks so much for this article. I have been in a similar boat as you (although maybe not as dire) recently, plus have been looking for someone to set up SEO for my WP site. Appreciate the recommendation of Les and his company!
Hi Laura, the thought of switching hosts had me in a panic. Working with Les and switching to WP Engine were the best decisions I could have made.
I know Les does a lot with SEO. I can guarantee your experience will be incredible if you decide to use him.
Les sounds like someone who just really enjoys doing that kind of stuff. Great that you found him as a resource.
I felt really lucky. I am so possessive of this site and letting anyone touch it really scares the _____ out of me. I just had to write something up on Les. He really impressed me.
“enjoys” is putting it mildly Pam… 😉