Have you received a notice from your hosting provider about upgrading to a new version of PHP, and are wondering what it means for your website?
WordPress is written in the PHP programming language. It is a server-side language, which means it runs on your web hosting server to dynamically generate WordPress pages.
In this article, we will explain how PHP updates by your web host impact your WordPress sites. We will also discuss the things you can do to avoid any conflicts or downtime on your website.
WordPress and PHP Updates
WordPress is developed using open-source programming language called PHP. At the time of writing this article, WordPress requires at least PHP version 7.4 or greater. The current stable version available for PHP is 8.1.3.
Most shared hosting providers are currently offering PHP version 7.4 or greater with the option to update or downgrade PHP from your hosting control panel.
You can see which PHP version your website is using by going to the Tools » Site Health page and switch to the ‘Info’ tab.
Next, you need to scroll down a little and click to expand the ‘Server’ tab.
This section shows server information including the PHP version used by your server.
Note: If this section is showing anything below PHP 7.4, then you need to update your PHP version.
Why Don’t Hosting Providers Use the Latest Version of PHP by Default?
There are various reasons for not using the bleeding edge and the newest stable versions of PHP by web hosts, but the most common reason is that the latest versions can sometimes break some PHP applications like WordPress.
However, they also don’t want to stay far behind. Currently, PHP 7.4.+ is the minimum required version and PHP 8.0+ is generally recommended.
A PHP update initiated by your web host is supposed to go smoothly, but it can also go terribly wrong. It all depends on your web host, and how they configure their servers.
This is why we recommend our users choose the best WordPress hosting, so they know that there are top-notch engineers who are looking after those servers.
Choosing an unreliable web host for your WordPress site can cause unexpected downtime during or after the update and there is pretty much nothing you can do about it except switch to a better host.
Things You Need to Do When Your Host Updates PHP
Your web host is probably already hosting thousands of WordPress sites. They will take every precaution they can to make sure that everything goes smoothly and customers don’t feel any glitches in the service.
The notice you have received allows you to be informed about the update and keep a lookout to see if anything goes wrong.
Although it is unlikely that this update will break things, it is always good to be prepared and ready.
Following are a few things you can do to prepare for the update.
1. Make a Complete WordPress Backup
First of all, we always recommend our users regularly backup WordPress sites. If you do not have an automatic backup solution already, then see our list of the best WordPress backup plugins to choose one.
What to Do if a PHP Update Breaks your WordPress Site?
There are very little chances of a PHP update breaking your WordPress site. However, with the abundance of free and paid plugins, a single line of poor code can result in any of the common WordPress errors.
The first thing you need to do is make sure that it is not a plugin or theme causing this error. To do that, you can deactivate all your WordPress plugins and switch to a default WordPress theme.
If this does not solve your issue, then contact your web host’s support team. There is a good chance that they’ll already be aware of the issue you are facing, and they will be able to help.
If none of this helps, then perhaps it is time to change your WordPress hosting.
We hope that this guide helped you understand how PHP updates by your web host impact your WordPress site. You may also want to see our WordPress site health guide or see our tutorial on keeping your WordPress site secure.
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Do you want to know how much it costs to build a custom WordPress theme?
Creating a custom theme gives a lot of freedom and flexibility over the layout and design of your WordPress site. However, many people don’t opt for a custom theme because they think it will be expensive.
In this article, we will share how much does a custom WordPress theme cost, as well as a few tips on how you can save money and avoid overpaying.
What is a Custom WordPress Theme?
A custom WordPress theme has a unique design, layout, and set of features that are made specifically for your business needs.
There are many free and premium WordPress themes available, but a custom WordPress theme helps your company or brand to stand out with a unique look.
The benefit of getting a custom WordPress theme is that you’re not limited by the constraints of a pre-existing template or layout. You have full freedom to customize your website and get any specific functionality built into your theme.
Create Custom Themes Using a Plugin vs Hiring a Designer
You now have lots of options to choose from when creating a WordPress theme. There are DIY theme builders that you can use on your own, or you can hire a freelance designer and agency to create a WordPress theme.
Let’s take a closer look at which is better, using a plugin or hiring a professional.
Using a WordPress Theme Builder Plugin
To create a custom WordPress theme, you no longer need to depend on someone who can design and code your theme for you.
SeedProd is a WordPress page builder that has made it super easy to create a custom theme from scratch without coding. It offers pre-built templates that you can use to get started quickly or use a blank template to create a custom theme.
Using the DIY drag and drop page builders, you can then easily customize every element of your theme.
Simply add and remove blocks from your theme, rearrange their order, edit the color, size, font, background image, add your logo, and change anything in the template.
Using SeedProd is the best choice if you want to create your own custom theme on a budget.
Hiring a Designer and Developer to Create a Custom Theme
On the other hand, you may be able to find an individual who can do both designs and develop the site depending on your needs. However, it’s hard to find a person who’s excellent at both design and code.
When you go with a full-service agency, it’s a one-stop-shop because they have designers and developers on their team. This is also the reason why agencies are usually more expensive. Alternatively, you can hire an individual freelance designer and developer separately and manage the project yourself.
However, design and development is a creative process, so the project cost varies based on expertise, experience in the field, and creativity.
Well reputed WordPress development agencies may cost more than an individual developer or freelancer. A well-known WordPress developer can sometimes charge even more than an agency. Plus, placing change orders to make revisions to a theme can make it more expensive to develop.
Keep Costs Low by Having a Clear Scope of the Project
Whether you choose to hire a professional or choose a theme builder plugin, a pro tip for keeping costs low is by having a clear scope of the project.
For instance, when you’re building a house, you typically have a list of features that you want, such as 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room, etc.
You need to make a similar list for your WordPress website and list down all the things that you would like to have such as:
Editable home page with a testimonial slider and services list
Contact page with a contact form and a Google map with the ability to find directions
Having a detailed list makes it easier for someone to give you an accurate quote. It also helps limit revisions or change-order fees and helps you keep within your budget.
Factors that Affect the Cost of a Custom WordPress Theme
Since each custom WordPress theme is built specifically for the individual client, the cost of the project varies based on the requirements.
Below are some of the factors that will impact the cost of your custom WordPress theme:
Features, Functionality, and Expectations
Adding more features and functionality to your custom theme will increase the development time and cost. Usually, clients have higher expectations than their budget allows.
High-quality work with custom features will take more time, and hence it will cost more.
Similarly, you may require premium WordPress plugins to get the functionality you need for your website. This will add to the cost of developing a custom theme.
Change Orders and Revisions
If you change the scope of your custom WordPress theme project in the middle of the process, then this can significantly increase your cost.
While minor changes are ok, freelancers and agencies often charge change-order fees for major change requests.
Hosting, Maintenance, and Support
A custom WordPress theme does not include WordPress hosting, website maintenance, or offering support after the delivery of the project.
Some agencies and freelancers might offer these services at an additional cost.
How Much Does a Custom WordPress Theme Actually Cost?
Previously, it was extremely difficult to explain how much a custom WordPress theme costs in fixed numbers because there were several factors to consider.
However, if you select a drag and drop WordPress page builder, then the cost of building a custom WordPress theme drops considerably.
For example, SeedProd offers its theme builder in the Pro plan, which starts at $199.50 per year. You can simply use the plugin to create a custom WordPress them yourself. Plus, if you add that with the cost of web hosting, domain, and SSL certificate, you can easily make a custom theme for under $500.
These days, even the large numbers of freelancers use drag & drop page builders now to create custom WordPress themes because it helps them build custom websites faster.
On the other hand, when you hire a freelancer or an agency, then a the cost of a custom WordPress theme for a business / personal website could cost between $1,500 – $5,000. A custom WordPress theme with additional built-in features or companion plugins can cost anywhere between $6,000 – $10,000.
If you have a complex enterprise-level project, then it is not uncommon for custom theme project prices to go above $30,000.
Therefore, we would highly recommend using a page builder to create a custom theme because the total cost will be lower, and you won’t have to spend a lot of money on freelancers and agencies.
How to Avoid Overpaying for a Custom WordPress Theme?
With over a decade of experience in the WordPress industry, we have a few tips that you can use to avoid overpaying for a custom WordPress theme.
Find Live Website Examples for Inspiration when Possible
Going along with a detailed scope and having a list of inspirations really help with the design process.
You can have a list of websites and list out what you like about each of them.
This gives the designer a clear idea of what you’re looking for this reduces the revisions and overall cost.
Use Premium Plugins vs Custom Built Functionality
Most reputable WordPress professionals will always choose a premium WordPress plugin vs building it out from scratch because it’s more efficient and saves cost.
However, as a customer, we always recommend that you do your own research as well. Often the developer that you choose may have other suggestions, and it’s important that you understand why they decide to choose one plugin over another.
Customize Premium Themes vs Build from Scratch
One of the ways to significantly reduce cost while still getting a ‘custom’ look and feel is to find an existing theme that has 90% of what you want. While this cheats the custom theme concept, it can significantly reduce the overall cost.
Powerful drag and drop WordPress page builders like SeedProd, Beaver Builder and Divi have given birth to an entirely new industry of Website Assemblers. They come with various templates, so you can easily choose one and customize it according to your needs.
Professional website assemblers use existing WordPress plugins combined with a drag & drop page builder to build you a custom-looking WordPress site at a much more affordable price.
Find the Right Developer or Agency for a Custom WordPress Theme
Due to its ease of use and low barrier of entry, there is a wide range of people and companies offering custom WordPress theme services.
Finding a developer or agency with the right experience and skillset can be a bit difficult. Especially because a lot of ‘website assemblers’ also call themselves developers.
Here are some places where you can find experienced developers for your custom WordPress theme project.
Codeable – This is our #1 pick for finding high-quality WordPress developers that are vetted by an expert team. You can post your project there and get a free estimate.
WPHired – This is a job board where you can post your WordPress jobs. Developers can then apply for the job, and you can discuss your project with them. You’ll have to look for developers with relevant experience and skills.
WordPress Jobs – Another WordPress-specific job board where you can post jobs and interview developers.
Upwork – An online freelancing website where you can post your job and interview developers from all over the world. This would allow you to find developers with lower rates. It is an enormous community with designers and developers of varying skills and expertise.
A custom WordPress theme can make your website stand out with its unique design and custom features. However, not all beginners and small businesses can afford that right away.
If you are just starting out, then you can use a page builder like SeedProd or a premium multipurpose theme to build your website theme at a fraction of the price.
With a custom theme, you get unique branding, custom design, and tailor-made functionality to help you grow your business faster and give you an edge over your competitors.
Imagine checking your Google Ads notifications and seeing this update: Google Ads removes search term data for advertisers.
That happened and it was not a fun experience for any of us. Most advertisers working with smaller budgets not working in a niche or mainly targeting broader more volume-heavy keywords with their search campaigns paid no mind to it.
We knew it could mean some important changes are on the way for advertisers like us who handle clients in various niches and that market to people with very specific needs. Specific needs + niche means that the search volume is limited and that meant we could face the effects of this update come September.
Well, September is already here, what did we find?
Before we dive into that, let’s take a look at what actually changed and why Google decided to do this.
“Starting September 2020 [AKA now], the search terms report only includes terms that a significant number of users searched for, even if a term received a click. You may now see fewer terms in your report.”
What Does It Mean When Google Ads Removes Search Term Data?
It means that your beloved Search Terms report that you rely on to derive insights and optimize your campaigns, will start seeing less data show up in it based on the actual volume or the popularity of the search term itself. This is regardless of the fact if the search term results in clicks or conversion for your campaigns.
One more important thing to note here is that the search term in question will be looked at globally. Let us explain:
Search Term A: Relative Popularity = 90
Search Term B: Relative Popularity = 5
Because of this update, Search Term A could only be clicked on once in your Google Ads Search Campaigns and it would show up in the Search Terms Report but Search Term B could be clicked on 30 times but still not make it in the report.
Our Findings:
To determine how the Google update has impacted accounts, we crunched some numbers for one of our clients that has $20,000 monthly spend, and here is what we found:
99 Robots Excel Chart
Allow us to put into words what you’re seeing.
Before the update, you could lose data on anywhere from 1% to up to 5% of your ad spend. Now after the update went into effect in September, it’s a different story altogether, we’re seeing days where we’re losing 59% of the ad spend data in the Search Terms report.
This is huge, as the search terms report is often looked at when you want to add negatives to the campaigns that do not amount to any conversions. The report helps advertisers everywhere keep a tight leash on their spend and allows them to cut back on wasted ad spend and have them put it towards more valuable keywords that bring in the audience with the right intent and which also converts.
How to See if You’re Affected by This
It’s simple, you need to calculate the visibility of your data, you will calculate the visibility of a specific metric hence the formula will be:
Search Term Visibility = (SUM of [metric] from Search Term Report) / (SUM of [metric] from Search Network Data)
So if you’d like to find out the visibility of the ad spend from your Search Term report then that formula will become:
Search Term Visibility = (SUM of Cost from Search Term Report) / (SUM of Cost from Search Network Data)
What Does This Mean for Advertisers?
We all have methods we employ to weed out the low volume, irrelevant, and poorly performing keywords from our Search campaigns. Now, with this update, a lot of those keywords will fall through the cracks since you will lack visibility on them. Regardless, advertisers like us managing millions in ad spend for our clients will always find ways to combat this and ensure that the conversion data and performance (bottom line) for our clients does not get affected.
Google has already been busy releasing updates and pushing advertisers more towards it’s automated ad products for a while and this is just another nudge from them in that direction where you rely on the machine learning of their algorithm to derive results and keep human intervention in the campaigns to a minimum.
Let us know what you think about this update or reach out to us if your business needs help demystifying the world of PPC.
One of the most important things you can do is backup your Google Ads account. Whether big or small, all Google Ads accounts have an exorbitant amount of details that go into making their campaigns successful or just work correctly in the first place. From targeting options to negative lists, placements, bids, locations adjustments, tracking templates, etc. There is too much valuable data on the account for you to just wait for your account to be disapproved and then do something about it.
“But I’ve never had a disapproved account”
“We only advertise for registered reputable businesses so we will never get disapproved”
Okay, how about when a media planner on your team nukes your account? What then? We all know how tedious the Google Ads History feature is, it’ll be almost impossible to revert the account to a previous state when your campaigns were working fine before your intern or junior messed all of it up.
So What’s the Answer… Backup Your Google Ads!
BACKUPS, it’s simple, whether you are an agency or a solopreneur or a freelancer. It is essential that you keep regular backups of the accounts you manage so as to revert back to them in case you have issues with your Google Ads account.
What Do You Need?
For advertisers like us that manage hundreds of accounts, there is only one tool that allows us to create backups of our Google Ads accounts.
Meet the Google Ads Editor.
Google Ads Editor is a free downloadable software from Google that connects to your Google Ads account and allows you to edit your campaigns and manage your accounts as you would through their web platform.
It’s considered a high-level tool with access to more functionality than what you find in the browser version of Google Ads.
We’ll be making use of one such feature here to create backups.
Once downloaded; install and open it. You’ll be greeted with the Accounts Manager window.
Here, click on +Add to connect your Gmail account and gain access to your Google Ads accounts.
Once you’re successfully logged in, you would have all of the accounts that you have access to on this screen.
Click on whichever account you want to backup and click Open.
This is where you can make changes to the campaigns, do a lot of bulk edits or even import campaigns from other accounts here.
Note: All changes made to the campaigns (Bids, Targeting, Optimizations, etc) will have to be done and then in order to be made permanent on the account, you would have to click on POST in the top right corner.
Changes made on the account using this tool are not implemented until you click Post.
How to Make Backups
To make backups of your accounts, select ‘Account’ from the menu bar, and choose Export.
Export gives you the option to have 4 types of exports:
Export whole account creates a backup of the entire account.
Export selected campaigns and ad groups create a backup of all the campaigns and ad groups that you select.
Export current view creates a backup of the view in the account explorer, If you have some campaigns filtered based on some rules then this will create a backup of what’s on the screen.
Export custom rules creates a backup of the custom rules that you have set on the account.
Since we’re backing up the entire account, we’ll use Export whole account from the list.
When exporting, it’s important that you select the save as type option to “CSV files with Images in ZIP archives” if you want to see all of the data that is exported.
If you just need the backup to use with the Google Ads Editor and use the Import option here later then the Save as Account archives (.aes) will also work.
The exported zip or the AES file can be imported into the Google Ads Editor for any account that you have access to.
A couple of notes about the zip exports, the images from your display campaigns are not named the same as what you uploaded them as. However, since you’ll be importing them using the entire zip file or AES file into the Google Ads Editor then the software will match them to the right campaign and adgroup so it’s not a cause for concern.
What is Not Covered in the Backup
Pixel data or audience information from the campaigns are not saved in the export, that data still lives on the account and will be called on when you import it into the same account.
In the case of importing the campaigns to a different account that does not have access to that pixeled audience will give you the “Missing or ambiguous audience” error.
How Often Should I Backup
We believe that you should back up your Google Ads account every week to stay up to date with the changes being made on the account, the editor names them for the date the export is made so maintaining them and reverting to a prior state should be very easy.
Now go out there and never lose even a single datum of your Google Ads account.
One of the most important things you can do is to backup your Facebook ads. It’s easy but for some reason, a lot of advertisers and even Facebook itself, don’t really talk much about this very useful feature. Campaign export not only helps you save tons of time but is a great way to work on excel (if for some reason you don’t like the Ads manager).
One of the reasons why this feature is not discussed as much as other features is probably because beginner or intermediate level advertisers may not use this a lot.
I disagree with this because if you are a small scale agency working with small ad accounts (spending anywhere between $500-$5000/mo), you would still be interested in learning how to export and import campaigns. Now, why do I say this?
Let’s assume you’re running ads for a Chinese restaurant that has many franchises or branches across the country. Instead of running all their campaigns under one account, you would obviously want to segregate the budget, campaign, and targeting, etc for administrative purposes (even though you are running the same ads).
The export-import option here lets you duplicate the entire account structure from one ad account to another and I’m going to tell you exactly how this is done below.
How to Backup Your Facebook Ads from Any Ad Account
Step 1
Go inside your Facebook ads manager and select the campaign you want to export, once that this done and you’ve selected the ad sets and ads inside, then click the export-import button and hit ‘Selected’. See the screenshot below.
Step 2
Once you have clicked on selected, another window will appear, here select ‘export as CSV’
After you have exported the data, the exported file should look something like this below.
Notice how this file will have everything related to the campaign that you were running.
Here are some of the important settings/data this file contains:
Campaigns, ad sets, and ad names Budgets and schedule Audiences and targeting Optimization and other ad set settings Placement details Ad level data including ad copy, headline, destination links, and CTA UTM parameters
Now you can save all this data on your cloud storage or anywhere safe and come back to analyze or view campaign settings for this particular account OR you may use this file to duplicate the exact same campaign and ads on another account.
Let me quickly tell you how that is done in the next section.
There are a number of reasons why everyone should be able to back up their Facebook data and all the juice that runs inside the ads manager.
You may want to back up this important data for one of the following reasons:
Saving data as security and backup (in case of account or business manager ban) Helps in transferring campaigns and ads in bulk across ad accounts (if you’re running the same ads through different ad accounts) If you want to quickly send over an ad or campaign approval to your clients (not the best way to get your ads approved but certainly the quickest)!
For whatever reasons you want to backup, saving that important data is crucial as it may save you thousands of dollars in the testing budget in the future.
So in this blog post, I am going to share a few tips and tricks that will help you backup your Facebook ads effectively and efficiently.
How to Import Facebook Ads to Another Ad Account
Now this is super simple to execute, once you’ve shared all the audiences to account #02, you’re simply going to take the file you exported and import that using the same import-export option.
Once you select Import >> Ads, here’s what you will see
You will simply upload the same file you initially exported and hit on ‘import’ and boom!
All your campaign settings, ad set settings, and most importantly, ads will be exported to the new account!
Quick Hack: How to Import Deleted Campaigns and Ads
Facebook would give you some sort of error if you try to import a file that contains deleted campaigns or ad sets.
To go around this error, here’s a quick tip.
Once you’ve downloaded the CSV file, open and start editing and get rid of the following columns (note delete the data inside the columns but let the headlines of the columns stay as is).
Here’s what you want to delete:
Campaign ID and campaign status Ad set ID and ad set status Ad ID and ad status
Just get rid of the data (highlighted above and the ad id and ad status). Once that is done, save the file and then upload it to another ads manager and it will successfully duplicate the campaign.
How to Backup Facebook Campaign Results and Stats
Now, we have learned how to export the campaign settings but let’s find out how we can export and save results and statistics.
Step 1
Line up the metrics you want to export, we usually have as many metrics as we want including the most important ones.
Step 2
Click on reports > export table data…
Step 3
Select the file type you want to export and also select ‘include summary row’ and hit on export.
Once you’ve exported the data, the saved file will look something like this
This includes all the metrics that you saved on the columns inside the ads manager, data depends on the date range selected.
You can also include campaign and ad data of deleted items on the file.
What is Not Covered in the Facebook Backup?
Pixel data or audiences are not covered in backup, the backup is really to save your campaign data and the actual ads and their permalinks.
To save pixel data, you can either share audiences with other accounts, share the actual pixel, or the old school way of keeping all your customers in a CSV file and uploading it whenever needed to create custom and lookalike audiences.
How Often Should you Backup your Account?
Facebook ads and ads manager have in recent times been unpredictable. We recommend you backup your Facebook ads once a week or if it’s not possible then at least once every month. This ensures that you never lose access to important data and settings and most importantly proof of work you’re doing on your or your clients’ accounts!
