A closer look at web security and how you can protect your website
Protecting your website is very important yet many people believe they are not at risk. “Oh, it wont happen to me” – “why would someone want to hack my website?”. It does happen though – sadly, it is a thing.
So what can you do?
Firstly, read the information about what is included with your hosting package. A cheaper package often means less support from the provider, meaning the responsibility for keeping your site safe falls to you in this instance – not keen on this? Consider up grading or switching to a provider that includes support.
Using complex and strong passwords is the first important way to protect your website – make sure you are regularly changing your password too.
You hear this often with any password you use to log in online, email passwords, social media accounts, ecommerce sites such as Ebay and Amazon, and the same is true of your website – it is the first step, don’t take a password for granted they can be powerful tools to help you!
What makes a password resilient?
Complex: Use a combination of numbers, letters (both uppercase and lowercase), and symbols.
Long: Use a minimum of 8 characters. The longer the better!
Unique: Using your birthday as your password everywhere you go is not a good idea. Try and use a different password on every platform.
Keeping your website up to date with the most recent version is another vital aspect of protecting your website. You know how you regularly take updates for you Phone and a website is the similar. Running on the most up to date version, taking all the new bug fixes etc isn’t just necessary it’s a must.
Again, is this service included in any hosting and support package you have for you website? If you pay a few pounds a month, the answer is probably no, so consider upgrading if you do not believe you will have the time or resources to update your site yourself.
One of the top reasons websites get hacked is because of the vulnerability in the framework and platform on which their website is built. WordPress is not only one of the easiest platforms to use, but it is one of the most secure sites for your business to be built on if it is hosted, supported and maintained correctly.
New releases come out every few months for WordPress, and the software of your site can be updated to the latest version. There are security features built into practically every new release of WordPress. They spot the vulnerabilities and improve their software before the issues affect your website. Websites that stay on older versions of WordPress are more likely to get hacked. So Keep this up to date!
Make sure your website has a SSL certificate, why?
SSL Certificates protect your sensitive information such as credit card information, usernames, passwords etc. It also:
Keeps data secure between servers
Increases your Google Rankings
Builds/Enhances customer trust
Improves conversion rates
Not only this, but from July this year, Google Chrome, the most used browser in the UK has started to mark all websites without one as, “insecure” – not a good look for a website!
Keep on top your web security to beat the hackers!
Unsure or worried? Give us a shout 🙂
Another factor when looking into your website is that 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, Android Phones, and tablets. This means that if your website is not mobile-friendly and easy to view on a smaller screen, you could be missing out on over half of your potential customers. It’s that simple and you can read more about this in our next blog 🙂