Setting up your website to sell your goods or services online is a total no brainer and if you haven’t already, there will be businesses out there in your sector that have!
These days you can sell practically anything online from actual physical goods including fresh or frozen food, clothes and paddling pools to services such as arranging holidays, appointments and training to electronic downloads which include videos, games, music and even hypnotherapy sessions.
If you have a service or product you would like to sell online but don’t know how to, get in touch – our Moto is “there’s always a way”.
However, money transactions online and hacking are both extremely popular, how do you make your website secure?
RULE #1 – Build your whole websites using https web pages
First and foremost, all web pages must sit on encrypted web pages (https), these pages are used to encrypt all the details inputted onto the webpage, so no one can listen in.
You will need to install a SSL certificate – contact your web hosting company for more details.
RULES #2 – Pass the buck when it comes to taking payments & storing financial details
Do not store your clients financial details on your website unless you are confident that your website has the ability to strongly encrypt all your customers personal financial information – you will also have to go through many hoops to make sure that your website is solid.
Our advice is to use your merchant’s online services, so none of your customers financial details are stored on your server, only on there’s – pretty much pass the buck to the people that spend millions on security. Companies such as PayPal, Stripe, Sage etc. will take on the security burden for you.
RULE #3 – Secure usernames & passwords
No matter how many times you have thought about it, no “Password1” is not a good password, and using “ADMIN” as your username is also very old hat.
Be creative, use your nickname as your username. Strong passwords are now created and remembered by your browser, but if you’d rather use your own, think of three words and put them together, include numbers and symbols where you can.
RULE #4 – Keep your website up to date
Like your mobile phone, your website’s platform, plugins and attached software must be kept up to date – we have written another post on keeping your website secure.
RULE #5 – Backup – Backup – Backup
We have said it three times so it sinks in, always daily or if you have a busy website hourly backup your website, so if you do have any issues you can quickly restore your website.
RULE #6 – Go on to your site everyday
Always go onto your website every day to make sure it’s working and hasn’t been hacked. Have a hacked procedure so everyone knows what to do if the unfortunate happens.
TOP TIP: Have your browser’s default page set to your website.
If you’d like a website designed, built and maintained by our experts at I.T Smart, get in touch and we’ll make sure that everything is taken care of.
