A good website is essential if you’re running a graphic design business. It’s a place for you to showcase your work to potential customers and it’s a vital part of your marketing strategy. But running a business website comes with a lot of dangers. Online security is a big concern for any business these days because the risk of cyber-attack is always looming. If you are the victim of an attack, you may lose personal information that could damage the business or the site could be shut down entirely.
You’ll lose business until you get it back online again so it’s essential that you protect yourself online. People may also try to copy your work and pass it off as their own so they can attract customers themselves. That’s why you need to make sure that you’re taking all of the necessary security measures when you’re setting up a website. These are the features that you must include if you want to ensure that your website is secure.
HTTPS
When you go on most websites, the web address has HTTPS at the beginning and you’ll see a small padlock icon next to it. HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It sounds complicated but in basic terms, it just means that the connection between your computer and the website is secure and encrypted and nobody can tamper with data while it’s being sent between the two.
In real terms, that means it’s safe to make a transaction on the website or send personal information without anybody getting hold of that information. If you don’t set up HTTPS on your site, the connection won’t be secure and any visitors will be wary. Most sites have it these days so people will notice if yours doesn’t and they might think twice about using the website at all.
Customer Verification
If you’re dealing with any personal information from customers or taking payments from them, it’s important that they know they can trust you, but it works the other way around as well. Sometimes, people may try to pose as customers and attempt to get you to share sensitive information with them. That’s why it’s important that you have a good customer verification service in place so they can prove they are who they say they are.
There are a lot of regulations about data usage as well so if you accidentally share information with the wrong person, you can end up on the wrong side of the law. Luckily, it’s easy for people to comply with regulations using your phone or computer. There are some great services that offer document verification so customers can scan their driving license or passport in to prove that they are who they say they are. There are even facial recognition services available for an extra level of security.
Copyright Protection
This is important on any websites but it’s especially important if you’re creating a lot of original work. There are always people that will try to pass it off as their own and that can have a big negative impact on your business. Always use watermarks on any original images that you put on the site so it’s harder for people to pass them off as their own. You can also add copy and paste protection to any text so if somebody lifts an article off your site and posts it on their own website, it’ll show up with a few lines at the bottom directing them to the original source.
It’s important to remember that copyright protection works both ways as well. If you aren’t careful, you might find yourself on the wrong side of the law. If you’re using any pictures or videos that you’ve found online, for example, it’s important that you only use ones that are free to use and not ones that are copyrighted. You could end up having to pay a large legal settlement if you make a mistake, even if it was a genuine accident.
Security Testing
It goes without saying that you need proper cyber-security measures in place to protect against hacking attacks on the site, but how can you be sure that they’re working. Hackers are constantly coming up with new ways around security software so there’s always the chance that you have gaps that make your vulnerable.
That’s why it’s absolutely vital that you have security testing software in place. It will constantly scan the website and pick up on any weak spots that need attention. That way, you can ensure that the site is always safe.
If you make sure that you have all of these security measures in place, your website should be safe.