Keep Your Website Visitors Safer With These Tools | Web Design Relief

by | Web Safety Tips For Writers | 0 comments

You may have an author website with great design elements, informative content, and lucrative promotional material, but this means little if your website isn’t safe! When it comes to your author website, Web Design Relief feels the safety of those visiting your site should be your top priority. Without the proper precautions, you leave your visitors open to having their personal information stolen or their computers harmed by malware and viruses. No one will be able to focus on your writing if their security is at risk! Put an end to cyber threats and keep your author website visitors safer with these tips and tools:

Author Website Safety Tips and Tools 

Strong password protection: Step number one to protecting your website is making sure that no one with malicious intent can get in. Change your password often, every 90 days, in fact, and avoid using the same password for every account you have. The most secure passwords are over eight characters and include special symbols and numbers and at least one capital letter. If you need advice on creating a strong password, there are online resources that can help you.

Quality web hosting: Your website needs somewhere to live, just like you, so make sure it’s a safe place! A secure web host puts protection first, so your web visitors can worry about your next writing release instead of hackers. An excellent web host will make routine backups of your website, install software updates, and regularly monitor the site—just like Web Design Relief’s hosting service.

HTTPS: Unlike an HTTP web address, HTTPS, which uses an SSL certificate, keeps information on your website encrypted. If you’re not techy, you may have just said, Huh? But the concept is simple: an HTTPS address safeguards information like e-mail addresses or credit card numbers so fans can safely purchase a copy of your book directly from your site. An HTTPS secures your website visitors’ information and prevents it from leaking into the vastness of the World Wide Web!

Secure contact form: A contact form is a great way for editors, agents, and readers to send you an e-mail without your actual e-mail address being visible. But you want to protect theirs as well. If someone sends you a message, then suddenly starts receiving spam right afterward, they will likely not be stopping by your site again anytime soon. So make certain that your contact form keeps user data secure and uses CAPTCHA verification so only humans can input information onto your website, and not spam bots. 

Limit user logins: One of the simplest yet most effective tools for online protection is limiting the number of users who can log in to your site. The more users and login locations you have, the more points of entry a hacker has if they gain access to one or more user passwords. Keep user logins to a minimum, especially those who are administrators of your website. 

Account lockouts: Many hackers attempt to use brute force to access websites and steal information being exchanged on it. Brute force attacks use codes and bots to try thousands of username and password combinations to log into your site. How do you stop this? Simple: Adjust your settings so that after three incorrect login attempts, your account is locked!

Smart security plugins: When it comes to your author website, plugins are your friend! While many websites have built-in security, it doesn’t hurt to keep your web visitors fully protected with as many security measures as possible. Plugins like iThemes Security, Google Authenticator, and Jetpack (just to name a few) protect your website by regularly scanning for malware, setting up firewalls, and making it harder for hackers to gain access with modified login methods.

Your author website should be a hub of networking opportunities to not only boost your writing career but also attract literary agents and editors! This is why it’s important to maintain a safe website. You want visitors to return and not worry that their personal information, along with yours, is at risk. This means you should drop dangerous website habits like never changing your password. Discontinue hosting with a problematic or illegitimate provider, and keep just anyone from uploading content to your website. Instead invest in safety with secure servers, plugins, and more!

 

Question: How often do you use an author’s website to purchase books? Did you feel safe doing so?

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