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How to Keep Your Website Secure: Website Vulnerabilities, WordPress Security Plugins, and More

7 Online Tools to Scan for Website Security Vulnerabilities

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<p>When searching for ways to grow your business, there are often many growth opportunities to discover online — starting with your website. You want to make sure that the basics are covered and  you’ve set up your website for success.</p><div class="lwptoc lwptoc-autoWidth lwptoc-light lwptoc-notInherit" data-smooth-scroll="1" data-smooth-scroll-offset="24"><div class="lwptoc_i">    <div class="lwptoc_header" style="font-size:175%;">
        <b class="lwptoc_title">Highlights</b>                    <span class="lwptoc_toggle">
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    <div class="lwptoc_itemWrap"><div class="lwptoc_item">    <a href="#Why_HTTPS_Is_HTTPS_Safe">
                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">1</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Why HTTPS? Is HTTPS Safe?</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">2</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Why HTTPS vs. HTTP?</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">2.1</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">What Is HTTPS Filtering?`</span>
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">How to Add HTTPS to Your WordPress Site</span>
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Conclusion</span>
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<p>The first step is to make sure that your <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/website-trends-key-features-2019/">site design</a> is beautiful, functional, and appealing to your target audience. If you have the proper tools and systems in place to increase your website traffic, you’ll likely find that <strong>brand awareness and customer <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/set-conversions-google-analytics/">conversion rates</a> are increasing</strong> along with your efforts for improvement.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1520" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/austin-distel-744oGeqpxPQ-unsplash-1024x683.jpg" alt="macbook business revenue" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/austin-distel-744oGeqpxPQ-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/austin-distel-744oGeqpxPQ-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/austin-distel-744oGeqpxPQ-unsplash.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p>A very important component of building website traffic and getting new customers to your website is search engine optimization, which will allow you to position your website towards the top of search engine results.</p>
<p>One very easy way to bolster your <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/7-ways-seo-can-help-business-grow/">SEO</a> efforts is by using <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/what-is-https/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HTTPS</a> with your website. This protocol is designed to <strong>add extra encryption and security to a website connection</strong>, which displays to search engines like Google and new visitors that your website can be trusted.</p>
<p>All other elements of <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/search-engine-optimization/">SEO </a>equal, the inclusion of HTTPS may be enough to push your site above the competition, which will result in a higher number of users visiting your website.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1521" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/kon-karampelas-HUBofEFQ6CA-unsplash-1024x683.jpg" alt="facebook https url" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/kon-karampelas-HUBofEFQ6CA-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/kon-karampelas-HUBofEFQ6CA-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/kon-karampelas-HUBofEFQ6CA-unsplash.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p>This is the age of information where practically every detail of a person’s life is stored online in many different locations. When someone uses your website, they want to be confident that they can input information about themselves without feeling like the information could be gathered by someone outside of the intended website.</p>
<p><strong>HTTPS is a simple way for you to show customers that the privacy of customer data is important to you.</strong> HTTPS is a protocol that’s designed to send certain data between a website and web browser <em>via a secure connection</em>. If you want to increase traffic to your website and bolster your SEO, it’s important to implement HTTPS into your website design.</p>
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<h2><span id="Why_HTTPS_Is_HTTPS_Safe">Why HTTPS? Is HTTPS Safe?</span></h2>
<p>While HTTP is the main protocol that’s used for many web connections, <strong>HTTPS is the version of HTTP that allows for a secure connection</strong>, which has proven to be highly important to modern site visitors and ecommerce transactions as user data is being entered online. While people have become increasingly dependent on the internet to go about their daily lives, the risks associated with user privacy and security have increased. If you want customers to remain on your website, they need to be confident that their data is secure, which is particularly important if you sell items or services directly from your site.</p>
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<p>Keep in mind that often website intruders or malicious hackers will focus on exploiting every resource that’s left unprotected, which could put user data at risk if you haven’t implemented an HTTPS connection. When an unprotected communication occurs between a potential customer and your website, the user could be tricked into providing sensitive information about themselves or even downloading <a href="https://www.avg.com/en/signal/what-is-malware" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">harmful malware</a>, which would invariably worsen your reputation.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1523" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/security-265130_1920-1024x683.jpg" alt="computer security" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/security-265130_1920-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/security-265130_1920-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/security-265130_1920.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p>If a third party sends advertisements into your website without your knowledge, these ads could come with various security vulnerabilities that would affect site visitors if they happen to click on the ad. The resources that can be exploited on your website via an unprotected connection include cookies, HTML, scripts, and images. The actual intrusion can take place around any point within your network, which includes a WiFi hotspot or the device that the site user is accessing your website on. <strong>You can avoid these issues altogether by protecting your website connection with HTTPS.</strong></p>
<p>Keep in mind that the URL of your website will identify whether or not you’ve implemented HTTPS into your website domain. The HTTPS letters will appear at the beginning of the URL and your website will show a padlock icon (if left unsecured – many modern browsers will say “Not Secure” in the address bar next to your URL). If you see HTTP as opposed to HTTPS, this means that you have yet to properly secured your website with HTTPS.</p>
<p>When a customer visits your website, they want their experience on the website to be <em>free of worry and frustration</em>. While it’s possible to ease frustration by integrating fast load times and simple navigation, the risk that a user might consider when entering a website for the first time can only be mitigated if the website proves to be secure. When customers know that you can provide them with security and privacy, they will continue to build trust with your brand, which will in turn bolster your reputation.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1531" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/beverage-blog-blogger-1799342-1024x702.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="439" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/beverage-blog-blogger-1799342-1024x702.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/beverage-blog-blogger-1799342-300x206.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/beverage-blog-blogger-1799342.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p>HTTPS can <a href="https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-of-HTTPS-over-HTTP" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">improve your business online in many ways</a>. If you implement a storefront on your website or have a login page, these connections and transactions won’t be secure without HTTPS – in fact, many ecommerce providers <em>require</em> HTTPS connections.</p>
<h2><span id="Why_HTTPS_vs_HTTP">Why HTTPS vs. HTTP?</span></h2>
<p>In order to fully understand just how important HTTPS is to your website, it’s best to <em>compare HTTPS to HTTP</em>. The <a href="https://www.w3schools.com/whatis/whatis_http.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HTTP protocol</a> is <strong>a type of system that’s used to transmit and receive information through the internet — this is the default connection protocol with many modern domain service providers</strong>. An HTTP connection does not remember anything about the web session that occurred before the current connection. For new websites that don’t obtain user information, HTTP may be enough to get you up and running but we always highly recommend obtaining an SSL certificate through your domain provider and securing your website connection through HTTPS.</p>
<p><strong>HTTPS is essentially the secure version of HTTP</strong>. It was developed primarily to allow for secure transactions, which have become essential for any kind of website that maintains user information. While a connection from a web browser to a server or port is established in the same way as HTTP, the data is moved with <a href="https://www.ssl.com/faqs/faq-what-is-ssl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SSL</a>, which means that the link is fully encrypted and the users privacy is secure.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1527" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/blur-close-up-connection-218717-1024x684.jpg" alt="google tablet device" width="640" height="428" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/blur-close-up-connection-218717-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/blur-close-up-connection-218717-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/blur-close-up-connection-218717.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p>The <em>advantages of using HTTPS</em> are numerous. For one, Google vastly prefers websites that are considered to be trusted and certified, which means that by using HTTPS, your website will have a better chance to rank in the search engine results pages. Along with increasing your rankings with search engines like Google, the additional SEO benefits of HTTPS include preserving referral information to your site and aiding SEO efforts by providing more security. When you’re running a website, there’s practically no reason why you shouldn’t be using HTTPS.</p>
<p>For the standard definitions of HTTP and HTTPS, <strong>the HTTP term refers to a Hypertext Transfer Protocol</strong>, which determines how information is formatted and transferred via a connection. When you type a URL into your browser, HTTP will tell the server to transmit the web page that has been requested. <strong>HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure,</strong> which allows for secure communication via a computer network. By utilizing an SSL certificate attached to your domain, the connection that’s made from a web browser to a server will be secured. When the HTTP protocol fetches the requested website or URL, the transmitting of the data will be <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/top-5-reasons-website-needs-ssl-certificate/">secured with SSL</a>, which means that it’s entirely encrypted and can’t be breached by outside interference.</p>
<h3><span id="What_Is_HTTPS_Filtering">What Is HTTPS Filtering?`</span></h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1528" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/code-cyberspace-dark-225769-1024x683.jpg" alt="encryption code" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/code-cyberspace-dark-225769-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/code-cyberspace-dark-225769-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/code-cyberspace-dark-225769.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p><a href="https://www.spamtitan.com/https-content-filtering-solution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HTTPS filtering</a> is an important component of this protocol and is something that you should understand for your website and has become a critical component of HTTPS in recent years. When you implement HTTPS content filtering, <strong>the traffic to and from your website that’s encrypted with SSL will be decrypted for you</strong>. While this might seem to be counterproductive, the tool will analyze the content of the decrypted data, apply any filtering controls, and then encrypt the data before it’s finally sent to its intended destination.</p>
<p>In today’s world, individuals who attempt to infiltrate a website will sometimes do so via encrypted traffic of their own, which could be used to hide malware or obtain sensitive information. Since it’s possible for these individuals to use HTTPS to get into your website, you need to be able to decrypt the data momentarily to make sure that your site doesn’t become vulnerable, which is why HTTPS content filtering is as important as the base HTTPS protocol.</p>
<h2><span id="How_to_Add_HTTPS_to_Your_WordPress_Site">How to Add HTTPS to Your WordPress Site</span></h2>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1529 size-large" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/fikret-tozak-Zk-Ydz2IAs-unsplash-1024x683.jpg" alt="wordpress computer" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/fikret-tozak-Zk-Ydz2IAs-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/fikret-tozak-Zk-Ydz2IAs-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/fikret-tozak-Zk-Ydz2IAs-unsplash.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p>If you’re creating a WordPress site or are already using an HTTP site with WordPress, it’s important that you transition to HTTPS if you want to bolster the security and privacy of your website. First, you’ll need to purchase an SSL certificate for your website through your domain provider. Once the certificate is purchased and set up through your service provider, you’ll need to activate the HTTPS connection.</p>
<p><strong>Activating HTTPS in WordPress is actually surprisingly easy and can be done with the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Really Simple SSL plugin</a></strong>. To begin this process, go to your WordPress dashboard and select the “<a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/how-install-wordpress-plugins-automatic-manual-upload/">Plugins</a>” option. From this page, click “Add New”, which is located at the top of the screen. Once you’ve found the correct plugin, all that’s left to do is select “Install Now”.</p>
<p>Once the installation process has been completed, you can simply activate the plugin and your WordPress website will be protected with HTTPS and all non-HTTP traffic will be automatically forwarded to the HTTPS version of that page. The best aspect of using this plugin for your WordPress site is that it’s <strong>completely free and lasts forever</strong>, which means that you don’t need to renew the plugin in order to continue using it. Since the plugin is free to use, there’s no reason not to implement HTTPS onto your WordPress website. You’ll be able to rank higher on Google and will provide site users with the privacy and <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/best-wordpress-security-plugins/">security</a> that they deserve.</p>
<h2><span id="Conclusion">Conclusion</span></h2>
<p><strong>HTTPS is one of the most critical factors for the success of your website.</strong> If you want to provide your users with a place they can visit or shop without fear of having their data stolen or information compromised, it’s essential that you use HTTPS.</p>
<p>If ever a substantial <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/5-tips-keeping-hackers-out/">hack</a> occurs with your website, the significant amount of data that you would likely lose would assuredly worsen your reputation among customers and will often result in time and money spent on recovery.</p>
<p>If you need help setting up your SSL certificate or installing HTTPS on your business website, feel free to <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/#contact">contact</a> our team of web professionals of <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com">Bryt Designs</a>!</p>
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How HTTPS Works for Your Business Website

<p>Are you an e-commerce personnel looking for ways to protect your data from internet breaches and threats? With about 90 percent of breaches impacting startups, your concern is justified and necessary.</p><div class="lwptoc lwptoc-autoWidth lwptoc-light lwptoc-notInherit" data-smooth-scroll="1" data-smooth-scroll-offset="24"><div class="lwptoc_i">    <div class="lwptoc_header" style="font-size:175%;">
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    <div class="lwptoc_itemWrap"><div class="lwptoc_item">    <a href="#What_Is_PCI_DSS_Compliance">
                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">1</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">What Is PCI DSS Compliance?</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">1.1</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Does Every Business Need To Be Compliant?</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">1.2</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">The Repercussions Of Ignoring PSI Compliance</span>
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<p>When it comes to cybercrimes, e-commerce sites have become a major target because they are <strong>card-not-present</strong> (CNP) channels of payment. This channel opens significant loopholes for fraud. PCI DSS highlights the requirements recommended for every e-commerce company.</p>
<p>These guidelines can help a company safeguard its cardholders’ information. To save your customers from payment fraud, a certified software development company can create a checkout page for you and make it PCI DSS compliant to fully secure your site from fraudsters.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1131" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ecommerce-marketing-trends-2019-1024x683.jpg" alt="Ecommerce Marketing" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ecommerce-marketing-trends-2019-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ecommerce-marketing-trends-2019-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ecommerce-marketing-trends-2019.jpg 1125w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<h2><span id="What_Is_PCI_DSS_Compliance">What Is PCI DSS Compliance?</span></h2>
<p><a href="https://reciprocitylabs.com/how-to-become-pci-dss-certified/">PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS</a>) was initiated by six payment brands including MasterCard, American Express, Visa, JCB, and Discover to protect sensitive customer data and combine it into a single set. The data refers to the credit card number, name, the security code, and the expiration date.</p>
<p>The total outlined compliance requirements are 12. It means you are required to adhere to all 251 sub-requirements highlighted in PCI DSS 3.2 for customer payment information to be fully protected.</p>
<p>Because a PCI DSS highlights a set of baseline requirements on how customer credit card data should be protected, it is largely important. The set standards guide companies in building an internal information security program as well as design it to meet the needs of the organization.</p>
<h3><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1014" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504-300x200.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></h3>
<h3><span id="Does_Every_Business_Need_To_Be_Compliant">Does Every Business Need To Be Compliant?</span></h3>
<p>Every company that accepts payment through credit cards has to prove its compliance through a self-assessment questionnaire or a qualified security assessor. Compliance requirements vary widely, depending on the payment methods accepted.</p>
<p>If you store the cardholder data of your customers, you are subject to PCI DSS compliance. First, determine your compliance level. Every merchant falls under any of the four levels, depending on the volume of debit or credit card transactions within 12 months.</p>
<p>Level 4 is the most strict. Small and medium-sized businesses fall under the categories of 3 and 4. Unfortunately, there is a misconception among level 3 and 4 merchants who believe that they do not need to be compliant.</p>
<p>It is worth noting that non-compliance is as costly as a breach. If you do not plan on being PSI compliant, then you must not process, store, or transmit any information of your cardholders on your servers.</p>
<h3><span id="The_Repercussions_Of_Ignoring_PSI_Compliance">The Repercussions Of Ignoring PSI Compliance</span></h3>
<p>PCI in itself may not be a law, but it is a standard created to guide businesses on how to handle financial processes. Your business will face legal action for not being PCI compliant. However, if your business gets involved in bleach, your e-commerce could be legally accountable. An audit would then reveal that you were not PCI compliant at the time.</p>
<p>Should you fail to comply with PCI DSS and get involved in bleach, depending on the degree of the impact, you could be subject to costly forensic audits, monetary fines, hefty card replacement costs, and a potential lawsuit. In addition to the penalties originating from the credit card companies, your enterprise may also be subject to other penalties from the bank.</p>
<p>Worse still, the risk of violating customer trust by not protecting card data could have a lasting impact on your business. A security incidence can wreak havoc on your revenue, traffic, and reputation. Consequently, your enterprise could potentially face termination from the bank or suffer increased per-transaction processing fees.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1176" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/man-laptop-dark-room-e1549243527965-1024x686.jpeg" alt="Beware of hackers accessing your website and compromising your data" width="640" height="429" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/man-laptop-dark-room-e1549243527965-1024x686.jpeg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/man-laptop-dark-room-e1549243527965-300x201.jpeg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/man-laptop-dark-room-e1549243527965.jpeg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<h3><span id="Why_Do_Cybercriminals_Target_Small_Businesses">Why Do Cybercriminals Target Small Businesses?</span></h3>
<p>Online shopping is rapidly increasing in popularity, and e-commerce businesses have become a major target for cybercriminals looking for credit card details that can be easily stolen. Ever wondered why cybercriminals hack small enterprises while they could walk away with millions of payment records in large organizations?</p>
<p>The simple reason is; only a few enterprises are PCI compliant. Hackers make use of automated scripts to scan for vulnerabilities in online stores and then access. They find it easier to hack thousands of small businesses than one large retailer. If you accept payments through credit or debit cards, you are a potential candidate of bleach.</p>
<p>PCI compliance guides you on different ways of protecting sensitive data if you accept payment through a mobile device, at a physical point of sale, and online means. Compliance can be achieved through accepting EMV chip cards and through securing the infrastructure, hardware, software, networks, and payment processes of your business. You can also identify a certified auditing firm that helps small businesses to detect vulnerabilities.</p>
<p>Because your e-commerce will always have some level of risk, security should be a continuous process. A good e-commerce security strategy calls for diligence and assessment. Complying with the PCI DSS requirements is an excellent way of promoting trust and loyalty among your clients.</p>


What E-Commerce Businesses Need To Know About PCI DSS Compliance

11 Best WordPress Security Plugins [2019]

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Among the many threats to consider with regards website security, hacking may seem a bit extreme. You might wonder why anyone would want to hack into your website to begin with, but imagine all of your hard work being wiped out or altered by a hacker or malicious attack.</span></p><div class="lwptoc lwptoc-autoWidth lwptoc-light lwptoc-notInherit" data-smooth-scroll="1" data-smooth-scroll-offset="24"><div class="lwptoc_i">    <div class="lwptoc_header" style="font-size:175%;">
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">1</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">1. Applying and keeping up with security updates is important</span>
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">2. Guard against SQL Injections</span>
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">3. Watch out for Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks</span>
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">4. Use Secure Passwords</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">5</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">5. Make use of HTTPS</span>
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Conclusion</span>
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<p>Your website could be hacked in an attempt to extract data, such as your customer’s sensitive information. In fact, a large percentage of hacks are carried out with the intent of setting up temporary web servers for serving files that could be illegal or use such servers as <span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://support.google.com/a/answer/6389191?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">email relays for spam</a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Your server could also be made a part of a botnet or bitcoin mine.</span></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1176 size-large" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/man-laptop-dark-room-e1549243527965-1024x686.jpeg" alt="Beware of hackers accessing your website and compromising your data" width="640" height="429" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/man-laptop-dark-room-e1549243527965-1024x686.jpeg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/man-laptop-dark-room-e1549243527965-300x201.jpeg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/man-laptop-dark-room-e1549243527965.jpeg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/how-to-backup-wordpress/">Backing up your website</a> database and files (which is of utmost importance) is a great step, but still not enough. Hackers and malicious spots get better every day; new and constantly evolving attack techniques keep surfacing. Automated scripts are set up to perform hacking and they constantly scour the internet to find and exploit website software security issues.</span></p>
<p>Malware does not operate using bias, as hackers rarely target specific websites. Therefore, every website is a security risk. The aim is to find vulnerable websites, which is why the security of your site should be top of your priority list. Even if you register <span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.domains4less.co.nz/">cheap domains</a></span> or <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/web-hosting-work-for-website/">web hosts</a> from promotions found on the web<span style="font-weight: 400;">, ensure they are reliable</span>.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may be handling all of these issues yourself. However, you could outsource your security needs to avoid the headache and get the job done, as needed. Here are a few tips on keeping your website safe</span>:</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1177" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/tech-security.jpeg" alt="Maintain updates to keep your data secure" width="1880" height="1253" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/tech-security.jpeg 1880w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/tech-security-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/tech-security-1024x682.jpeg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1880px) 100vw, 1880px"></p>
<h2><span id="1_Applying_and_keeping_up_with_security_updates_is_important">1. Applying and keeping up with security updates is important</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Be sure to keep all of your software up to date; from your server operating system to third party software, whether Forum or CMS. It’s important to remember that hackers take advantage of any vulnerabilities they find in software</span> or your website.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For third party software, it’s advisable to apply updates as soon as possible. Most CMS vendors like WordPress notify you of security updates whenever you log in (always be sure to back up your data and ensure no compatibility issues will arise before updating). Some of them have mailing lists and RSS feeds for the same purposes. Make sure all of your dependencies are always up to date. You can also use tools to get notifications whenever a vulnerability is announced in any of your components. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Having the latest version of your platform and scripts installed is not too much work (especially with a CMS like WordPress), doesn’t take so much time and will reduce the chances of being hacked.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You won’t have to worry about security updates if you have a <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/web-hosting-work-for-website/">good hosting service</a> in place, because they will often take care of the relevant operating system updates.</span></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1014" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504.jpeg" alt="" width="2250" height="1500" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504.jpeg 2250w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504-1024x683.jpeg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 2250px) 100vw, 2250px"></p>
<h2><span id="2_Guard_against_SQL_Injections">2. Guard against SQL Injections</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">SQL injections are one of the common hacks many websites experience as many CMS platforms (like WordPress) utilize SQL for the database that holds a websites data. These attacks occur when you have a URL parameter or web form that gives outside users access to provide information. If the parameters in such fields are left too open, code can be inserted in them by outside users that enable them hack into your database, putting sensitive information belonging to your customer – credit cards numbers, passwords and so on – at risk. They could</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">subsequently change, delete or steal your data.</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">There are various steps to keep your website safe from SQL injection hacks. One of them is fairly simple to implement and uses parameterised queries, which ensure your codes have very specific parameters, guarding against hackers. Many web languages provide this feature and implementation is easy.</span></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1178" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/javascript.jpeg" alt="Javascript" width="1880" height="1253" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/javascript.jpeg 1880w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/javascript-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/javascript-1024x682.jpeg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1880px) 100vw, 1880px"></p>
<h2><span id="3_Watch_out_for_Cross-Site_Scripting_XSS_attacks">3. Watch out for Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Also fairly common are cross-site scripting attacks, which happen when <strong>hackers inject malicious JavaScript code into your pages</strong>, which can affect those who visit your website and cause information to be stolen. It’s important that you protect your pages from such active JavaScript content. </span><br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Similar to protecting against SQL injections, one way to protect against JavaScript injections is making sure the code you use for the function fields (or fields for input) are completely explicit, removing the chances of anything slipping in.</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Also handy for protecting your website from XSS is </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CSP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Content Security Policy</a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (CSP), a header that can be returned by your server, which lets you control how (and what type of) JavaScript can be executed on your pages. This way, even though the attacker’s scripts can breach your page, they are deemed ineffective, because the browser won’t be paying any attention to them. For instance, you might specify that scripts not hosted on your domain shouldn’t be allowed to run. Mozilla has a great guide on crafting CSP headers for your site.</span></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1179" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/password-lock.jpeg" alt="Use secure passwords" width="750" height="500" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/password-lock.jpeg 750w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/password-lock-300x200.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<h2><span id="4_Use_Secure_Passwords">4. Use Secure Passwords</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is generally known that the most secure passwords are those that are fairly complex, but this doesn’t mean people always apply this rule. Strong passwords are crucial for your server and admin area. It’s also a great idea to encourage your users to protect their accounts with strong passwords as well. In fact, even though many users might not appreciate it, enforcing password requirements (such as length of passwords and using a mix of numbers and letters) should be a given.</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Easy to guess passwords should be totally off limits</strong>; birthdays or partner’s names and so on. Strong passwords should also apply to anyone who has access to your website. It’s also advisable to store passwords as encrypted values. You could also </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://crackstation.net/hashing-security.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">salt passwords</a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">; for example, one salt per password could prove effective for extra protection.</span></p>
<p><figure id="attachment_1079" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1079" style="width: 454px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-1079" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/brytdesigns-secure.png" alt="Bryt Designs secure domain" width="454" height="43" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/brytdesigns-secure.png 454w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/brytdesigns-secure-300x28.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-1079" class="wp-caption-text">The green lock represents an SSL “secured” website while unsecured websites may show as “Not Secure”.</figcaption></figure></p>
<h2><span id="5_Make_use_of_HTTPS">5. Make use of HTTPS</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/top-5-reasons-website-needs-ssl-certificate/">HTTPS is a protocol for providing security through an SSL certificate</a> or signal to the user that the content is safe. Many customers already know to look out for it when giving out sensitive information via the internet; it guarantees server authenticity and they can be confident the information they provide cannot be intercepted or changed in transit. While it’s great to use HTTPS for pages such as login pages and credit card pages, it’s even more important to use it across the entire website, because attackers can still imitate users and subsequently assume control of their login session.</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Interestingly, Google has also promised </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://seotradenews.com/google-starts-giving-ranking-boost-secure-httpsssl-sites/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boosts in rankings for websites that use HTTPS</a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. If you’re already using HTTPS for your entire website, you can consider setting up HTTP Strict Transport Security, so you can prohibit insecure HTTP for your whole domain. </span></p>
<h2><span id="Conclusion">Conclusion</span></h2>
<p>Regardless of whether or not you think your website is a target — it is. Just as you would protect your office, home, or storefront from intrusion, so should you make an effort to maintain the security and integrity of your website. It’s extremely important for businesses handling sensitive customer data to maintain a secure website and backend system, once you lose the trust of your online customers, it may be incredibly tough (and costly) to get it back!</p>
<p>If you have and questions about how you can secure your website or need help with the result of a security breach, <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/#contact">contact us directly</a> and we’ll help you get back on track!</p>


Beware of hackers accessing your website and compromising your data

5 Tips for Keeping Hackers out of Your Website

<p>When you own or manage a website, <strong>maintaining an SSL certificate is among the most important aspects of keeping your website safe and secure while providing various benefits to your SEO results</strong>. SSL certificates are small files of data that bind a type of digital key around the details and information on your website. When in use, these certificates allow for a secure connection between a browser and web server, which means that such communications as credit card transfers and member logins are protected. In the age of data privacy, security is paramount. A lack of strong security measures for your website can result in data breaches that cause you to lose valuable business and customer information, which may erode confidence in your website. If you’re thinking about obtaining an SSL certificate for your website, there are some affordable options that can be purchased from your <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/web-hosting-work-for-website/">hosting and domain provider like MediaTemple or GoDaddy</a>. These options typically cost around $75 per year and a low-tier SSL certificate enough to keep your website private and secure. No matter the cost of the SSL certificate that you’re considering, there are a large number of reasons that your website must be equipped with one, the top five of which are detailed in the following:</p><div class="lwptoc lwptoc-autoWidth lwptoc-light lwptoc-notInherit" data-smooth-scroll="1" data-smooth-scroll-offset="24"><div class="lwptoc_i">    <div class="lwptoc_header" style="font-size:175%;">
        <b class="lwptoc_title">Highlights</b>                    <span class="lwptoc_toggle">
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    <div class="lwptoc_itemWrap"><div class="lwptoc_item">    <a href="#5_Build_Customer_Trust">
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">5. Build Customer Trust</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">2</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">4. Build Brand Power</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">3</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">3. Secure User Data Privacy</span>
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">2. Benefits to Your SEO Results</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">5</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">1. Securing E-Commerce Transactions</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">6</span>
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<h2><span id="5_Build_Customer_Trust">5. Build Customer Trust</span></h2>
<p>If you want your business to have a proper online presence wherein your company and brand are respected, it’s essential that you have an SSL certificate for your website domain. These certificates will allow you to build customer trust by proving the security and legitimacy of your online business. The modern website user cares about the security of their information and most prospective customers will avoid using your website if they feel as though their user information won’t be secured. Keep in mind that an SSL certificate acts as a visible security signal to your site visitors when they enter your website, which is displayed by a “secure” label next to the URL of your site. When a customer sees this label and knows that you have done your due diligence for keeping the customer’s transactions safe, they will feel more comfortable in knowing that your website is secure and can be viewed as a trusted source.</p>
<p><figure id="attachment_1079" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1079" style="width: 454px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-1079" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/brytdesigns-secure.png" alt="Bryt Designs secure domain" width="454" height="43" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/brytdesigns-secure.png 454w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/brytdesigns-secure-300x28.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-1079" class="wp-caption-text">The green lock represents an SSL “secured” website while unsecured websites may show as “Not Secure”.</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>If you fail to add an SSL certificate to your website and you suffer from even a small data breach, it can be difficult to restore your reputation. As touched upon in the opener, your domain provider should offer some affordable SSL certificate options that cost as little as $75 per year, which is a small amount to pay for gaining the trust of your customers. By knowing that your website is secure, your website sales conversions may also increase. This fact has been backed up by numerous studies over the past few years, which includes one by <strong>Symantec that shows an 18-87 percent increase in eCommerce sales and lead generation conversion rates with SSL</strong>.</p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.comodo.com/pdf/case_study_zamberg.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">case study</a> that was handled by Comodo found that a specific website had an <strong>11 percent increase in customer conversions after implementing an SSL certificate</strong>. With so much online competition in practically every field and industry related to eCommerce, you need to do everything you can to make sure that customers choose your website over other options, which is just one reason as to why an SSL certificate is worth it.</p>
<h2><span id="4_Build_Brand_Power">4. Build Brand Power</span></h2>
<p>While building customer trust with an SSL certificate is essential if you want to keep your website from failing, these certificates also allow you to build brand power, which is an equally important step that can aid your business plans for years to come. Securing your website and protecting the privacy of each of your customers shows that your brand cares about the privacy of its customers, which will invariably increase <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-loyalty.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brand loyalty</a>. While it’s sometimes difficult to measure a behavioral pattern such as brand loyalty, this pattern is what can turn a moderately successful company into a business that flourishes atop its competitors. <strong>Loyal customers are typically going to be repeat customers</strong>, which allows you to continue boosting your profits and building your brand power through a loyal customer base acting as your business’s own sales force as they refer your business on to other new customers.</p>
<p>Companies such as Apple and Disney have an extensive amount of brand loyalty that they are able to tap into constantly, which allows them to be extremely successful when releasing highly sought after products. However, the power of brand loyalty is also displayed by what happens when something goes wrong. Whether you’ve released a mediocre product or suffered from an entire day of downtime on your website, durable brand loyalty means that you can more effectively weather the issues that occur with your website and brand as a whole. While implementing an SSL certificate onto your website isn’t the only thing that you need to do if you want to build brand power, it is a wonderful addition to your business strategy.</p>
<h2><span id="3_Secure_User_Data_Privacy">3. Secure User Data Privacy</span></h2>
<p>Among the most important reasons that your website needs an SSL certificate is because it will allow you to <strong>secure user data privacy</strong>. When your site does not have an active SSL certificate, the user’s browser will temporarily block the website and provide the user with a warning, which is a bright red screen that warns about phishing sites. Even if your website is legitimate and your brand well respected outside of the website, this type of warning will automatically scare away potential customers and make it appear as though you don’t care about the security of your website.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1080 size-large" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web-privacy-error-e1543178423250-1024x547.jpg" alt="The user privacy warning for non-SSL secured sites." width="640" height="342" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web-privacy-error-e1543178423250-1024x547.jpg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web-privacy-error-e1543178423250-300x160.jpg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web-privacy-error-e1543178423250.jpg 1392w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p>Nearly every user who sees the phishing site warning has heard an awful story or two about computer viruses or stolen information, which will immediately come to mind when the user is provided with that warning. From then on, your website will be associated with unreliability in the mind of the visitor, which is something that <strong>can be very damaging to your reputation among online consumers.</strong></p>
<p>When you implement an SSL certificate into your website, this certificate works in a variety of ways to protect and secure the privacy of user data. Any login information that the site visitor enters onto your website will be protected, which means that they won’t need to change passwords on a constant basis when visiting your site. All of their information will also be <a href="https://www.techworld.com/security/what-is-encryption-3659671/">encrypted</a> with this certificate, which will prevent any and all unauthorized access of this data. The user data that can be protected by an SSL certificate includes the user’s credit card information and similar info that the user wants to keep protected.</p>
<h2><span id="2_Benefits_to_Your_SEO_Results">2. Benefits to Your SEO Results</span></h2>
<p>While it’s not immediately noticeable when obtaining an SSL certificate, <strong>these certificates will also provide you with benefits to your <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/what-is-seo-and-how-does-it-work/">SEO</a> results!</strong> As you likely know, websites that properly implement search engine optimization will rank higher on search engines like Google, which means that a higher number of potential customers will see your website among search results and eventually visit your business online. <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/7-seo-tips-tricks/">While most of the search engine optimization that you can perform</a> with your website pertains to manipulating website code and the content on your site, adding an SSL certificate has also proven to be a fantastic way to optimize your website for search engines.</p>
<p>For instance, HTTPS is a <a href="https://www.link-assistant.com/news/google-ranking-signals.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google algorithm ranking signal</a>, of which Google has listed more than 200. A ranking signal is any aspect of a website that search engines like Google consider within their ranking algorithms. A larger number of ranking signals being included in your website strategy means that you’ll likely have a better chance of ranking on search engine results related to your brand or the product you offer. <a href="https://www.instantssl.com/ssl-certificate-products/https.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HTTPS</a> is the term that appears at the beginning of your URL once you have obtained an SSL certificate. The URL for a website that doesn’t have an SSL certificate will begin with HTTP.</p>
<p>When you have a trusted domain that is considered to be secure, this means that <strong>other reputable sites will feel more comfortable in linking back to your website</strong>, which is another invaluable method of driving traffic and increasing customer conversion rates. There are a <a href="https://www.gotchseo.com/backlinks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wide range of effective methods</a> that you can use to increase the number of inbound links that lead to your website. However, these methods may prove to be fruitless if you don’t have an SSL certificate. Without this certificate, other websites may not feel secure in linking back to your website since they also have a reputation to uphold with their customers.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1081" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/man-shopping-online-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/man-shopping-online-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/man-shopping-online-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/man-shopping-online.jpeg 1125w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<h2><span id="1_Securing_E-Commerce_Transactions">1. Securing E-Commerce Transactions</span></h2>
<p>If your website is an eCommerce site, you’ll want to do everything possible to <strong>secure the transactions of your customers</strong>, which is something that an SSL certificate will help you do. While there are a variety of tools and techniques that you can use to make these transactions secure, an SSL certificate is the most important tool for doing so. <strong>These certificates will secure all of your customer data and any eCommerce transactions that occur on your website</strong>. These transactions typically include credit card information as well as pertinent details about the customer and where they live, which is why it’s paramount that you keep this information secure. Without an SSL certificate, it’s often difficult to properly secure these transactions, which means that hackers will readily obtain the information of anyone who actually purchases something off your site when it doesn’t include a certificate.</p>
<p>An SSL certificate offers an array of benefits to eCommerce websites, the primary of which is that your customer will have a safe shopping experience and may eventually return to purchase more. Having customers return to your website in the future is the only way for your eCommerce site to be successful. An SSL certificate is also the strongest type of encryption that can be used to secure the credit card transactions that occur during a purchase, which means that there’s no way for a hacker to get this information. Customers may choose to use a blog site or non-eCommerce site that does not include an SSL certificate since they won’t need to enter any personal data. However, many customers will not want to use an eCommerce site that doesn’t have this certificate since they would need to enter private information such as their credit card numbers, residence, and more.</p>
<h2><span id="Conclusion">Conclusion</span></h2>
<p>If your website doesn’t have an SSL certificate — get one, now. Not only will you be investing in your online presence by securing your customer’s data and transaction information, but you’ll provide your website with numerous benefits including SEO benefits for faster results and increased organic search traffic! <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/#contact">Contact us today</a> if you have any questions about the process or would like a hand with obtaining your website’s SSL certificate!</p>


The Top 5 Reasons Your Website Needs an SSL Certificate

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Doing business on the internet involves more than just having great products and/or services — it also <strong>involves having a website that people want to visit, spend time browsing on, and become loyal customers to</strong>. Many people often overlook a <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/web-design-development/">strategic and professional web design</a>, but without all the right elements, your website may end up being lost in the archive of millions of websites on the internet that very few people know about or visit. </span></p><div class="lwptoc lwptoc-autoWidth lwptoc-light lwptoc-notInherit" data-smooth-scroll="1" data-smooth-scroll-offset="24"><div class="lwptoc_i">    <div class="lwptoc_header" style="font-size:175%;">
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                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Focus on the user experience</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">2</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">3</span>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Want to create a website that attracts more than just friends and family members? Then read on for 7 essential strategy &amp; design tips to improve the effectiveness of your Website!</span></p>
<h2><span id="Focus_on_the_user_experience"><b>Focus on the user experience</b></span></h2>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1011" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/user-experience-flow-chart-1024x684.jpeg" alt="User experience flow chart" width="640" height="428" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/user-experience-flow-chart-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/user-experience-flow-chart-300x200.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is no doubt that having your own website is accompanied by a feeling of ownership on the web; however, this is not the goal (for most). The purpose of building a website is to <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/search-engine-optimization/"><strong>attract visitors and generate sales for your business</strong></a>. It’s therefore fair to say that a website that fails to attract visitors is essentially useless. For your website to be attractive, it has to meet the expectations of your target audience and one way to ensure that this happens is to find out what these people are looking for in a website. Today’s web users are looking for websites that can give them the information they want in very little time, regardless of the device they are using. So your first assignment is to make your website responsive for mobile devices and optimized for speed and performance. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A large number of internet users visit websites on their mobile devices while on the go, and its safe to assume that this trend will continue for years to come. It is vital that your website is able to adapt to the device your visitors are browsing from and not lose any vital content between them. </span></p>
<h2><span id="Avoid_complexities"><b>Avoid complexities</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There was a time, not too long ago, when complex flashy websites were all the rage. However, these days, <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/goodbye-flash-google-discontinue-support/">many are no longer impressed by this gimmicky web sorcery we know as flash</a>. Today’s internet users are looking for websites with very little or no complexities, just straightforward websites where they can find information quickly with subtle design elements that make visiting your website a pleasure.</span></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1012" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ux-design-1024x683.jpeg" alt="UX design" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ux-design-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ux-design-300x200.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To make your website shine, three things that must be properly controlled are the <strong>design, usability, and functionality</strong>. This means choosing a simple minimalist design</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">that contains only necessary and important components. Websites like these are not only pleasing to the eye; they load far faster, leading to a better user experience and reduction in bounce rate. If your website looks busy and cluttered, it will take more time to load and also take visitors a longer time to get the information they need reducing your chance at a conversion. Don’t forget that page load speed is a critical factor that determines the page’s eventual ranking.</span></p>
<h2><span id="Keep_your_navigation_simple"><b>Keep your navigation simple</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As previously mentioned, visitors are no longer willing to spend much time looking for the information they need. If they can’t find what they want on your website in a short amount of time, they will look elsewhere. Your job is to make their browsing experience as seamless and hassle free as possible. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>The secret lies in keeping your navigation simple.</strong> When you have too many links and options, you may end up confusing your visitors. Simple strategically-placed navigation will make it easy for visitors to reach every part of your website and help them locate what they want quickly. If you have a very large website with many pages, then you can break your navigation into parts. Above the fold in the header of the page, another at the bottom, and the rest can be presented as internal links.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Try to avoid using complicated terms in your navigation. For instance, it is easier for a visitor to understand ‘About Us’ than ‘Corporate Information’. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whatever you do, remember that the easier you make it for visitors to get what they want, the longer they will spend on your website and the higher your chances of a better page ranking.</span></p>
<h2><span id="Use_clear_CTAs"><b>Use clear CTAs</b></span></h2>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1013" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cta-button-1024x724.jpeg" alt="Include clear CTAs on your website" width="640" height="453" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cta-button-1024x724.jpeg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cta-button-300x212.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Call to action buttons are needed if you want to </span><a href="https://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/use-ctas-landing-pages-boost-conversion-rate-01556947" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">boost conversion</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> rates on your website. They are an essential part of every website as they tell visitors what action you want them to perform. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you do not have clear and persuasive CTAs, your visitors will end up leaving your website without carrying out any useful actions that could ultimately lead to a sale. This is why effective CTA buttons should stand out, be strategically placed, and be very clear about what they do. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Use these two simple tips when creating your CTA buttons: </span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>The color of your CTA buttons should contrast appropriately with the color of your website</strong>. For example, if your website has a white background, using blue will help your users to easily find the call to action.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>The text on your call to action should be captivating enough to attract the interest of your visitors</strong>. Rather than use words like submit or subscribe, use words that tell your users what they stand to gain if they click on the button.</span></li>
</ul>
<h2><span id="An_About_Us_page"><b>An ‘About Us’ page</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may not know it, but customers are interested in placing a personality to a website. They want to be sure that there is an efficient and trustworthy person or team behind the website before they make a purchasing decision. This is why having an ‘About Us’ page is essential to the success of your website. Unsurprisingly, it is one of the most visited pages on any website, <strong>this page helps establish the legitimacy of your brand and website, building trust with your customer and encouraging sales</strong>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A good ‘About’ page should be able to tell the story of your business, provide valuable information to visitors, and give them an insight into how you run your business or service. It may also contain some of the milestones and goals you want to achieve as a brand.</span></p>
<h2><span id="Contact_Information"><b>Contact Information</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If customers cannot find a visible means of contacting you, it raises a red flag. Whether you run a local operation or an international business, <strong>customers want to be able to get in touch.</strong> Customers want to trust that you can be reached in the event of a problem or issue arising. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is why having your contact information is very important. You don’t even need to have a separate page for it – at the footer of your website, or in a sidebar widget, you can put contact address, phone numbers and social media handles. This will greatly boost your credibility and can also help tremendously in local SEO with proper semantic coding practices</span><b>.</b></p>
<h2><span id="Security"><b>Security</b></span></h2>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1014" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504-1024x683.jpeg" alt="Security with an SSL certificate is important" width="640" height="427" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504-300x200.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></p>
<blockquote><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> “With the increase in spate of cybercrimes, it has become of paramount importance that website owners observe best practices when it comes to security of their website and its users”</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>George from Freeparking – a NZ base web hosting company</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whether you are running an ecommerce business or a simple business portfolio site, <strong>visitors want to be reassured that their details are safe with you.</strong> It is even more vital if you accept any form of personal information on your website. For your website to compete successfully in your niche, having a secure website is vital. The statement above sums it up perfectly.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>It is no longer expensive or difficult to install an SSL certificate on your website</strong> (typically about $70/year with free setup for a basic certificate). Not only will it give your visitors peace of mind, it will also boost your credibility with search engines. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Furthermore, keep in mind that mistakes are bound to happen from your end or that of your customers. For instance, customers who want to subscribe to a cheap and reliable web hosting service provider already have </span><a href="https://www.freeparking.co.nz/domain-names/search/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">www.freeparking.co.nz/domain-names/search/</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as the URL to key in. But a simple typo like www.freeparkin.co.nz may lead them to a malicious duplicate spam site where their personal information may not be secure. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Therefore, purchasing similar domains that look and are spelled alike with proper redirects will help redirect users to the primary page they are looking for.</span></p>
<h2><span id="Conclusion">Conclusion</span></h2>
<p>We hope this article has given you some ideas about how you can improve your website and increase exposure and sales for your business online. <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/#contact">Contact us today</a> if you’d like some help improving the effectiveness of your web presence and increasing conversions for your business online!</p>
<p><em>Have any tips of your own? Feel free to leave them in the comments below!</em></p>


Revealed! 7 Essential Strategy & Design Tips to Improve the Effectiveness of your Website

<h2><span id="Backup_your_website_with_WordPress_Plugins">Backup your website with WordPress Plugins</span></h2><div class="lwptoc lwptoc-autoWidth lwptoc-light lwptoc-notInherit" data-smooth-scroll="1" data-smooth-scroll-offset="24"><div class="lwptoc_i">    <div class="lwptoc_header" style="font-size:175%;">
        <b class="lwptoc_title">Highlights</b>                    <span class="lwptoc_toggle">
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">1</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Backup your website with WordPress Plugins</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">1.1</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">1.3</span>
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                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">2</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Backup your wp-content folder via FTP</span>
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    </div><div class="lwptoc_item">    <a href="#Backing_Up_your_Database">
                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">3</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Backing Up your Database</span>
    </a>
    </div><div class="lwptoc_item">    <a href="#Back_up_your_website_with_your_Web_Host">
                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">4</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Back up your website with your Web Host</span>
    </a>
    <div class="lwptoc_itemWrap"><div class="lwptoc_item">    <a href="#Need_help_backing_up_or_restoring_your_word_press_website">
                    <span class="lwptoc_item_number">4.1</span>
                <span class="lwptoc_item_label">Need help backing up or restoring your word press website?</span>
    </a>
    </div></div></div></div></div>
</div></div>
<p>As you know by now, <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/why-use-wordpress/">WordPress is an extremely robust platform</a> and has many <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/essential-wordpress-plugins/">plugins</a> from which you can extend your website with. If you’re looking to backup your website, there are many options to choose from with varying flexibility and feature sets. Below are a few of our favorite WordPress backup plugins:</p>
<h3><span id="All-in-one_WP_Migration">All-in-one WP Migration</span></h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-867" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/all-in-one-wp-migration.png" alt="All in one Wp Migration WordPress Plugin" width="772" height="250" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/all-in-one-wp-migration.png 772w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/all-in-one-wp-migration-300x97.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px"></p>
<p>This is one of our favorites as it allows you to completely backup your entire website with a click of a single button. You’re given many options of how you’d like to save your backup — from a single file for download, to ftp, dropbox, and more.  This plugin saves your backup as a single usable file (WordPress files ..and database combined) which you can easily upload onto anyWordPress installation with this plugin installed and it will restore your website to the state of the backup.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/">Download All-in-one WP Migration</a></p>
<h3><span id="BackWPUp">BackWPUp</span></h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-869" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/back-wp-up.png" alt="Back WPUp WordPress Backup Plugin" width="772" height="250" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/back-wp-up.png 772w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/back-wp-up-300x97.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px"></p>
<p>This is another greatWordPress backup plugin. It allows you to backup your entire website, set up a backup schedule to ensure a consistent history of website changes in case your website breaks, you are able to restore your website to an earlier state. BackWPUp also allows you to upload your backups to a cloud storage solution such as AWS, Dropbox, and more.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/backwpup/">Download BackupWPUp</a></p>
<h3><span id="VaultPress">VaultPress</span></h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-868" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/wp-vault-banner.png" alt="Vault Press WordPress Backup Plugin" width="772" height="250" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/wp-vault-banner.png 772w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/wp-vault-banner-300x97.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px"></p>
<p>We feel we have to mention this plug in as it was created by one of the founders ofWordPress and the team at <a href="https://automattic.com/">Automattic</a>, the brand behind the famous <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/essential-wordpress-plugins/">Jetpack plugin</a>.  VaultPress is extremely easy to use and not only provide you with consistent backup solutions but provides <strong>backups in real time</strong>, as changes are made to the website. And you backup is stored typically within minutes of your latest website changes. This plugin does require a monthly fee and they can deftly add up, but you can extend the functionality and feature set of this plugin well beyond many of its competitors.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/vaultpress/">Download VaultPress</a></p>
<h2><span id="Backup_your_wp-content_folder_via_FTP">Backup your wp-content folder via FTP</span></h2>
<p>If you’re comfortable using an FTP client (we use the widely popular FileZilla, you can <a href="https://filezilla-project.org/">download FileZilla for free here</a>) and are interested in securing a backup of your website manually, we can always do so by downloading and storing your /wp-content/ folder. <strong>The /wp-content/ folder contains all of your theme files, image assets, and website resources that your website needs to run on the WordPress platform without carrying the bloat of the base installation files.</strong></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-870" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.02.37-PM.png" alt="How to backup your WordPress site via FTP" width="577" height="422" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.02.37-PM.png 577w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.02.37-PM-300x219.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 577px) 100vw, 577px"></p>
<p>To find this folder, simply navigate to your website root folder. Within the root folder of your website you will see the /wp-content/ folder, simply download this entire folder to save a backup of all of your themes, images, website resources, and more. We typically recommend that you store these files on a cloud storage solution, ensuring that you have a copy of your backup if something happens to your local machine.</p>
<p>To restore these files to your website, simply re-upload this entire folder and overwrite the existing /wp-content/ folder on your server.</p>
<h2><span id="Backing_Up_your_Database">Backing Up your Database</span></h2>
<p>Part 2 of a manual backup includes exporting your database file. Your database tells your WordPress website what to do with the content, as WordPress is an extremely robust content management solution which uses the database as a directive to tell your website where the content lives.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-871" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.07.14-PM.png" alt="How to backup your database via Cpanel" width="873" height="412" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.07.14-PM.png 873w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.07.14-PM-300x142.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px"></p>
<p>First, you want to <strong>log in to your web host dashboard</strong>, this is typically found in a platform called CPanel, Plesk, or a number of other web hosting dashboard solutions,  If you can’t find your web hosting dashboard, contact your web host and they will point you in the right direction. You’ll then want to look for a program called <strong><a href="https://www.phpmyadmin.net/">phpMyAdmin</a></strong>. When you log in to phpMyAdmin you will be able to select the database from the list of databases on your hosting server. Once you select the right database (you can confirm this by clicking the wp_options table and looking for the ‘siteurl’ field in this table which should reflect the correct domain name of your website),  <strong>click export</strong> at the top of the page. This will bring you to a new page which gives you options of how you like to export this file, in most cases, you are fine with doing a simple quick export in the. sql file format. <strong>Again, we recommend that you store this file on a cloud storage solution to ensure that your database backup is not lost.</strong></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-872" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.09.00-PM.png" alt="Exporting your database with phpMyAdmin" width="1184" height="496" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.09.00-PM.png 1184w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.09.00-PM-300x126.png 300w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.09.00-PM-1024x429.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1184px) 100vw, 1184px"></p>
<p>To restore this database, simply log in to phpMyAdmin, select the correct database, and <strong>click import</strong>. This will bring you to a new page where you can upload the database backup file you exported earlier and click import to complete the process and overwrite your existing database tables.</p>
<h2><span id="Back_up_your_website_with_your_Web_Host">Back up your website with your Web Host</span></h2>
<p>You should always check with your Web host as many <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/web-hosting-work-for-website/">web hosting solutions</a> will provide you with an automatic backup service <strong>free of charge</strong>.  Although some of these backup solutions do not play well with a content management solution like WordPress which must maintain a file structure and database in order to work properly.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-873" src="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.10.15-PM.png" alt="GoDaddy backup service" width="862" height="262" srcset="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.10.15-PM.png 862w, https://wp.brytdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-06-at-2.10.15-PM-300x91.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 862px) 100vw, 862px"></p>
<p><em><strong>Always check with your provider to ensure that your backup solution is the right fit for your website!</strong></em></p>
<h3><span id="Need_help_backing_up_or_restoring_your_word_press_website">Need help backing up or restoring your word press website?</span></h3>
<p>Have questions? Need help? Feel free to <a href="https://wp.brytdesigns.com/#contact">contact us directly</a> we’ll do our best to get your website back on track and in working order. There are number of solutions beyond the scope of this article and we will be more than happy to explore all of the options with you.</p>


Tag:"Security"

Tag:
"Security"