Certificate Security error 2 foreign versions of my new domain when Googled
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Hello, having serious problem w/new domain purchased w/domain mapping upgrade through WP about a week ago. I’m not very savvy w/technology so hoping someone can help me figure this out (in layman’s terms pls). Sent 2 emails to WP Support couple days ago & no reply. The new site is http://flatironswellnesscenter.com/ . I need to know ASAP if I can proceed successfully w/this domain or if I need to request a refund and start over w/something else.
Problem 1 – When I type site address into address bar of search engine I receive security certificate warning (this one from IE, similar language when trying w/Chrome):
“There is a problem with this website’s security certificate.The security certificate presented by this website was issued for a different website’s address.
Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept any data you send to the server.
We recommend that you close this webpage and do not continue to this website.
Click here to close this webpage.
Continue to this website (not recommended).”I assumed maybe this was due to “.wordpress.com” being removed/hidden from site address (the upgrade I paid for) & it would be sorted internally through WP. It has not been sorted, and I can’t show anyone else the site because they can’t type in the address & pull up the site!
Problem 2 – I “Googled” the site name yesterday to see if it might have been indexed yet and instead saw 2 foreign language (Russian & Arabic?) versions of my new domain name on page 1 of search results:
“WordPress.com – Nameserver Changes on 2013-10-04
http://www.dailychanges.com/wordpress.com/2013-10-04/
2 days ago – flatironswellnesscenter.com • flintlockfantasy.com • florajessie.com • flufftobuffaz.com • foodpolka.com • footbalternative.com • frankrumpenhorst.flatironswellnesscenter.com : информационный сайт | WSGiga
ru.wsgiga.com/flatironswellnesscenter.com – Translate this page
flatironswellnesscenter.com : Информация об этом сайте / имя домена (регистрация, Whois, DNS, IP локализации, …) с WSGiga.flatironswellnesscenter.com : ข้อมูลเว็บไซต์ | WSGiga
th.wsgiga.com/flatironswellnesscenter.com – Translate this page
flatironswellnesscenter.com : ข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับเว็บไซต์นี้ชื่อโดเมน / (การลงทะเบียนของ Whois, DNS, IP แปล … ) กับ WSGiga.”Don’t understand what this means: Did WP sell me a domain that’s already being used somehow by these 2 other sites? Has the domain name somehow been “hacked”/redirected or something since I’ve started working on the site (seems unlikely since no one else can even see the site?)
Bottom line that I need help understanding pls: Can this issue be fixed so that the site pulls up when address is entered (and if so, how?) AND will the fact that these security errors are being issued for my new domain affect if/when/how Google will rank my new site? Because if so, it’s kind of pointless/futile to try to proceed w/the domain isn’t it?
Thanks in advance for your help!
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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I flagged this for the staff to weigh in and @TT & @RC might notice and drop by also
My best guess is that you bought a name that had been in use before and that is where the strange search results come from
It takes search engines 4 to 6 weeks to index a new site so there will be a bit of a delay while your content replaces the old results – search engines also seem to take up to 3 months to clear their search caches
tough call but it looks like your URL matches your company name – that is a big plus in the long run for SEO – Search Engine Optimization
Me?? I guess I would sit in a corner in shock for a while then start adding new Posts to your site – maybe make it like short news articles or tips from your Practitioners
And I would loose this paragraph before noon today, even if the replacement is a bit rough – or you will be back in a few weeks wondering why it is in the search results and how bad it looks
Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here. Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here. Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here. Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here. Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here. Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here. Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here. Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here. Insert a paragraph of descriptive text here.
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Thank you so much @auxclass for your fast reply & insights! I have more questions if I can trouble you again please. Unfortunately I can’t wait weeks for new content to replace old (spammy?) content from domain’s previous use as it’s not even my site (created this as a favor for my mom, and her boss and others at the Center want to see the new site, yet she can’t share it w/them when a “Warning danger”-type message comes up when they simply type the site address). She trusted my opinion that WP.com site would be a quick, secure & inexpensive way to go. I need to fix this & get it fixed right away or it will reflect poorly on her. So …
1. In selecting a new domain name, is there any way to screen the history of a domain/to ensure the name you’re registering is a “clean” name and not still associated w/another (possibly disreputable) site?
2. If I register/map another (replacement) domain name through WP.com, will there still be the problem of certificate security errors popping up when others try to access the site? i.e., is that happening because possible previous use of this specific domain, or because the “.wordpress.com” is being hidden from the site name and some search engines don’t like that?
I’ve seen a few others post a similar certificate error question in this forum, and I can’t risk going w/this platform but not being able to quickly get a site live AND to direct others to see the site (or having it work if they’re browsing w/Safari but not IE, for example). It’s a pretty small/basic site and I just need to make something work smoothly (w/my very limited tech skills).
3. If the domain mapping upgrade in WP does have this security certificate issue: will WP refund $30 fee, and if I buy new domain & hosting from GoDaddy instead, will I be able to use “Yoko” (free theme) on a wordpress.org site and is there any way to transfer site pages already created to the self-hosted site? I’d hate to start from scratch.Would be incredibly grateful for any further help you (or others) could offer to help me figure out what to do today to move forward in getting a site up. Thx again in advance.
(Also, thx for educating me that placeholder “insert paragraph here” text was problematic, I didn’t realize that & have deleted!)
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that WP.com site would be a quick, secure & inexpensive way to go
WordPress.COM is – the issue is not with WordPress.COM but what ever the old domain might have been used as – then searching seems to show a spam site piggybacking with the domain name for traffic
You would have the same trouble no matter where the domain name is hosted
1) use search engines and see if you can find an old version
2) those errors are from the old use of the name – they are in the cache of the search engines – you should not get any errors at all when visiting the site on WordPress.COM –
3) WordPress.COM will not have the security error – I don’t get it when I visit your site
If you move to Godaddy the issue with the name will be the same
Many of the free themes now are available for WordPress.ORG installs on other hosts – don’t know specifically about Yoko
You be welcome on the text – search engines will remember things you wish they did not – that is some sort of internet rule :)
I hope this helps a bit
There are some sharp folks that help in the forum, they should be stopping by
I guess my opinion would be to make some new Posts, like a newsletter, introduce the facilities, maybe a few pictures inside the building – the domain name has been indexed, so you want to replace the old cache stuff with new info – also since the domain name has went through the expire process the old site would have been pushed back a bit with the broken links and such – so you new content would help –
since the name has been indexed, I would expect your new content would start to update the old caches in a few days, but search engines do hold onto old content seems like forever when we don’t want them to
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Hi all,
In the case of those search engine results, those are sites reporting on information concerning the domain name itself—the IP address, location, etc, and could exist for any domain, whether it was ever used previously or not.
In searching for it, they only appeared when I manually told Google that I meant “flatironswellnesscenter.com”, rather than Google’s autocorrection to Flatirons Wellness Center.
In one sense, it’s like if you search for an address. In addition to anything valid about the address, you’ll likely see a ton of “directory” entries. Searching for a local business address gave me a link to a taxi fare calculator on the first page, for example.
In short, there’s nothing to worry about based on the results you shared previously.
Regarding the security warning, that’ll appear if you’re trying to visit https://flatironswellnesscenter.com/ (notice the https at the beginning). If you visit and advertise your site as http://flatironswellnesscenter.com/, it won’t appear.
If you have any other questions or need anything else, please let us know. Thanks @auxclass for the help.
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Hello @Kraftbj, thanks so much to you (and to @auxclass) for helping me w/my issue. I’m somewhat reassured, yet still not entirely clear on how to avoid having potential visitors to my new site receive a security certificate error that would alarm them. Because my site isn’t showing up w/Google yet, to direct someone to my site I gave her address “http://flatironswellnesscenter.com” (w/out the secure http “s”). She received warning & didn’t proceed to site. The problem may be that Google & Chrome both automatically begin the address w/”https”, that’s not something users are going to know to change.
Here’s warning language from Chrome:
“This is probably not the site you are looking for!
You attempted to reach flatironswellnesscenter.com, but instead you actually reached a server identifying itself as *.wordpress.com. This may be caused by a misconfiguration on the server or by something more serious. An attacker on your network could be trying to get you to visit a fake (and potentially harmful) version of flatironswellnesscenter.com.
You should not proceed, especially if you have never seen this warning before for this site.
Proceed anyway Back to safety”This sounds pretty scary & isn’t going to encourage visits to my site.
What I’m still unclear about is whether there’s any way to eliminate this security cert. issue w/a domain mapped through WP.com? I purchased a different domain today (“boulderflatironswellness.com”) through WP.com & thought I’d try again w/new site (searched Google & didn’t find any Russian/Arabic or “spammy” previous versions of that domain). I just need to be sure that if someone types that site name into google or search engine address bar that site will load w/out worrisome warnings? Thx so much!
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Hi again,
I can’t duplicate that with any of my browsers (Chrome, FF on Mac and Windows, Safari on Mac, and IE on Windows) and while using an extension that force https on sites (specifically, I tried the EFF’s HTTPS Everywhere extension).
Have you been able to see the warning yourself or just the other user?
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