If you pay attention to the analytics of your site, have you noticed that your ranking on Google has gone down? Has your site traffic begun decreasing? It could be a simple solution to fix. Google has implemented more security measures regarding the sites that they feature. If your website is not secured, your SEO won’t matter.
WAYS TO SECURE YOUR EXISTING WEBSITE
You want your content in 2020 to rise above the competition. As a business and brand owner coming out on top in a Google search almost guarantees that someone is going to visit your site. Here are some ways to secure your existing site to help increase your Google ratings:
Keep your website up to date.
By keeping your website up to date, you are ensuring that the threat of vulnerability by being hacked from the outside is reduced.
Find a great security plug-in. Security plug-ins offer great firewall protection for your information. Finding one that is right for your needs is an important step to securing your existing website.
Do not allow visitors on your site to upload any files.
There is a difference between allowing a user to comment or review and allowing them to physically upload files to your site. Allowing these uploads can leave you wide open for an attack and make your site less secure.
Get SSL certified.
Having a great security plug-in certificate is not enough. Paying a little extra to obtain an SSL certificate with business validation and extended validation will get you that pretty little green “secure” bar on Google. (This is what you want!)
Get your HTTPS.
Once you have your SSL certificate you qualify to turn an HTTP to an HTTPS. If you didn’t know, that “S” is what lets people know your site is secure. It is just one more way to show your visitors that you are serious about their safety.
Take every available precaution you can with passwords.
This doesn’t just mean your personal passwords; this also means the passwords of your customers if you have log-ins on your site. There are special ways to encrypt these and it is smart to save your own passwords offline on a completely different computer.
Keep your folders hidden.
Hackers are smart. It isn’t too hard for them to figure out that a file named “admin” is probably an important folder. Switch it up and name your folders something completely off the wall. This may give your software time to find the threat and neutralize it while they are busy trying to find the important stuff.
Don’t use intricate error messages.
Keep these simple too. If you explain the entire error out in the message, a hacker can home in on it and take advantage of the system.
Taking the security of your site into your own hands and learning about what makes your site safe is the first line of defense against being hacked.
HOW HAVING A SECURED SITE BENEFITS YOUR BRAND
Building your content in 2020 is important to you and making sure that you are increasing traffic to your brand is one of the ways to implement that. Being a safe site is one of the biggest ways to get Google to notice you in the searches. SEO is still important, but your site could be a double threat if it enhances your SEO and security.
Having a secure site helps keep your information away from hackers and other people who may be out to steal your information. People feel a lot safer buying from you if you have a secured site. They know that their information is safe if you take the security of your site seriously.
Another benefit to having a secured site is the ability to take card payments. All of the payment companies that process card payments require an SSL certificate for your site. This not only protects the customer, but it protects you from the repercussions of having that information breached.
The biggest and most important part of site security, especially for your brand, is the SEO factor. Your content will get more recognition in searches if it is secured properly. The more exposure, and the better your SEO, the better your chances are at becoming a Google front runner.