Getting your online business started includes a lot of effort, time and investment. You’ve probably already spent months developing and testing your website.
Maybe you outsourced its development, or perhaps you had to hire an in-team of developers to do the job. You’ve finally launched it into the light, but, you now realize that your work is just getting started. There’s still a long way to go before your business reaches the success of your dreams.
In the middle of all these tasks, owners of start-up businesses often forget to secure their online businesses. This is something that’s just as crucial as all of the work you’re doing – if not more so. By failing to secure your online business, you’re jeopardizing everything you’ve worked so hard for.
To prevent your hard work from going to waste, here are 7 ways to secure your online business:
1. Secure Your Web Hosting
Your online website can only get out to the public through subscribing to Web Hosting services. However, these services are many, each putting a plethora of features in front of you to choose from. Along with these features comes packages of different prices, and you might very well be tempted to choose the least expensive. What you need to remember is that you often get what you pay for, and Web Hosts of cheaper prices might come with decreased security that can put your efforts under huge risks. While considering your options, make sure the Web Host you’re choosing is PCI-compliant.
2. Get an SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate ensures the protection of all data being sent and received between your website and the server. It carries out this protection by encrypting your data, which makes it secure in the face of malicious acts of hackers.
Having an SSL certificate which secures your website is also crucial for optimizing your website for SEO. SEO experts in Cairns know how the presence of SSL and HTTPs encryption directly impacts the ranking of any online business in search engines, something you’ll understand better if you click here to check out the best on the ground practices of professional SEO service providers. Fully optimizing your website for success starts with securing it, otherwise, the search engines will even warn visitors against visiting your website.
3. Use Strong and Regularly Updated Passwords
Many websites ask users to create complex passwords that include at least one uppercase letter, numbers, and symbols, each password requiring a minimum number of characters. This is one of the best practices when it comes to creating passwords, as it minimizes the risk of someone guessing your passwords and breaching your security. It’s also a good idea to regularly update your passwords, while making sure that you’re using unique passwords for each account.
4. Ensure Email Security
There’s a reason that most of your emails go into the spam folder. That’s because almost 50% of the emails you subscribe to are illegitimate; many of which can include huge threats to your account, PC, and everything your PC has access to. It’s pretty common for cybercriminals to use emails when infecting your PC with ransomware as soon as you open the email. You should take good measures in securing the emails you, and your employees, open by installing scanning software that inspects the elements of any emails.
5. Implement Work Security Protocols
If you have employees working on a remote basis in your business, it’s especially critical to make them aware of proper work protocols. Signing in to public WiFi networks impose a great deal of risk on the data they share. They should always make sure the networks they use are secure, but if they have to use open networks, then using efficient VPN programs are essential in order to encrypt their data.
6. Keep Your Data Safe
There are many ways that your data can be stolen or lost. To make sure your data is safe, make a habit of backing your data up regularly, or automatically if possible. You should also pay close attention to how you dispose of your data. If you’re updating the equipment of your team, or a PC has been broken, don’t just throw away old equipment without destroying the data on the hard drive yourself.
Ensuring the security of your online business is one of the most crucial steps to include in your business plan. There are many important steps you should take to do so, which starts with choosing a secure web host and getting an SSL certificate. Good security practices also include using complex passwords that are regularly updated, ensuring email security, implementing work security protocols, and keeping your data safe.