2. Installation

This guide uses cPanel, which most shared hosts provide. Everything happens in your browser; no terminal is needed. It takes about 15 minutes.

Step 1: Database

cPanel → MySQL Databases:

Create a new database, for example youruser_seo.
Create a database user with a strong password.
Add the user to the database with ALL PRIVILEGES.

Note the database name, user name and password.

Step 2: Upload the files

cPanel → File Manager:

Open your home folder (/home/youruser/), not public_html.
Upload the release package scc-<version>.zip.
Select it and click Extract. This creates the folder seo-control-center/.

Step 3: Domain and PHP version

cPanel → Domains (or Subdomains): create the domain or subdomain you want to use, for example seo.example.com. Set its document root to:
```
/home/youruser/seo-control-center/public
```
Only the public folder may be reachable from the web. Your settings and keys stay outside it.
cPanel → MultiPHP Manager: select PHP 8.5 for that domain. On CloudLinux hosts, check under Select PHP Version → Extensions that sodium and intl are enabled.
cPanel → SSL/TLS Status: run AutoSSL so the domain has a certificate.

Step 4: The installer

Open https://seo.example.com/. The installer starts and checks the server.
It asks for a setup key. This proves that you control the server:
1. Open File Manager.
2. Go to seo-control-center/storage/, open setup-key.txt and copy the key.
Fill in:
- Site address: https://seo.example.com (no path).
- Environment: Production. Choose Staging only for a test installation, which needs no licence.
- Database from step 1. It must be empty.
- Administrator: your name, e-mail and a strong password.
- First workspace: usually your company name.
Click Install.

Step 5: Cron (background work)

Imports, rank checks and analyses run in the background. cPanel → Cron Jobs:

Choose every 5 minutes, or every minute if your host allows it.
Enter the command shown on the last installer page, for example:
```
/opt/cpanel/ea-php85/root/usr/bin/php /home/youruser/seo-control-center/bin/cron.php >/dev/null 2>&1
```
If that path does not exist on your host, use /usr/local/bin/php or ask your host for the PHP 8.5 command line path.

If your host only allows cron every 5 (or 10, 15 …) minutes, add this line to the file seo-control-center/.env in File Manager, using your host's interval:

CRON_INTERVAL_MINUTES=5

After 5–10 minutes, System health → Cron should show OK.

Step 6: Back up the encryption key

cPanel → File Manager → seo-control-center/storage/keys/: download the key file and keep it somewhere safe, offline. It encrypts your stored passwords and tokens (Google, DataForSEO, two-factor secrets). Database backups deliberately do not contain it.