SEO TIPS: Avoiding a Bad Name

Having and running a website is not all that it seems to be on the surface. Most new webmasters think they have a grasp on it all because they read a few forums and articles or did okay with a blog. While those are good starts to understanding what goes into a site, it’s far from being the whole picture. The truth is that there is a lot more going on than most new webmasters ever stop to consider.

The question you should have right now is what is having a website all about behind the scenes? Having a website is not all about SEO, traffic, linking, content and conversions. Those are the shiny things that grab our eye, but security is paramount. You have to be aware of how safe your site is for the people who visit it and also how secure our own information is. If you can’t provide a safe space on the web, you can’t expect to do much business. That is the harsh reality of the web – once trust is lost, you won’t get it back.

Website security is not directly linked to SEO, but it can and will affect the traffic rate to your websites and that is something that will get attention every time. In that sense, web security is important as well. if your site has a warning next to it in searches, you’re done. Plain and simple. You’ll get nowhere until you come off the warning list.

No one likes to consider losing traffic or missing out on traffic over something that can be easily addressed. Online users that don’t feel comfortable and safe using your websites will hesitate to visit or to make a purchase assuming they ever do stop by your site. Most often, they will just go to a competitor and give them their business which is a double whammy for you.This can obviously cripple your ability to turn a profit which is why you are in business – to make money!

Another problem is that when a website is not secure, hackers can take advantage of the loopholes in the website’s security and use it for their own purposes. Once they gain access, who knows what they will do? Don’t lull yourself into a false security thinking this is not the norm. This is an everyday occurrence on the web, and hackers know how to get around cheesy security systems. Several things they might try to do to breach a site include:

* They can install scripts and malicious software

* They can steal important info about your site

* They can take customer information and defraud them

Those are all horrible scenarios and the last thing anyone wants is for innocent users to visit a website only to find out their computers got infected with viruses or spyware. It hurts them and the owner of the site that was compromised as well. Either could be installed fairly easily, thus converting their computers into spam generating machines or even destroying a computer entirely.