Secure Your Content: 4 Ways to Keep Your Site Safe

Paragon Software Group found that one in five businesses have experienced data loss. Human error and hardware failure are just some of the reasons for loss. But there’s another more sinister reason behind data loss. The FBI estimates that 500 million computers a year are hacked. Some of those hacks include ransomware, where your device is locked down and the hacker demands money to unlock your device and files.

Your website, files, content and blog could disappear in an instant for a variety of reasons. But ultimately, how it happened doesn’t matter as much as how to prevent the catastrophic effects. Fortunately, there are easy ways to secure your most important digital assets from content to your customers’ email. Here are four ways to get started.

Backup your devices

Eliminate issues with data loss and cut off hackers by using a cloud-based backup system. If your files are compromised or lost, just backup from the cloud. An online backup service like Mozy can automatically backup your devices, as well as your physical and virtual servers. Your files and data are encrypted and stored to an online data center and can only be decrypted by you. Decide how often you want to backup your data, whether daily, weekly or otherwise and then you can forget about it. If you have an emergency, you can quickly restore it on the go.

Backup your website

Your computers and devices aren’t the only places you store your data. Your hosting provider may store your content, images and WordPress template, but is probably only offering a basic backup. Most consumer hosting plans offer backups dating back to the day or week before. But what if you realize a file is missing from months ago? Or what if the free backup system through your hosting provider fails?

Start by checking your hosting provider’s tools and services to find out what they’re backing up and when. There are services out there that can preserve your website quickly through an FTP protocol. Your data is encrypted and compressed to speed up the process. It can also be set to run automatically, so you can forget about it and your data is safe and easy to restore if you need it.

Capture customer emails

Start capturing your audience’s email addresses through a lead magnet, like a free e-book or tip sheet with helpful insights and actionable advice. A service like MailChimp or Aweber can help get you started and do everything from creating a signup form to setting up an autoresponder to automatically delivering your offer. Nurture those emails by sending occasional updates, deals and interesting content to keep your audience engaged.

Capturing email addresses is essential because if your website or data goes down, you can still get in touch with your customers. Simply send out a bulk email to let them know you’re experiencing technical difficulties or when to expect any issues to get resolved.

Test everything you do

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the new pieces to your security puzzle. But backing up your devices, website and storing your customer emails needs testing. A survey by GFI Software found that more than 53 percent of organizations surveyed said they do not conduct daily backups, making it easy to lose your content, customer emails and everything else you’ve worked to create. Try restoring your computer and website files through your backup service, and test your email capture and automation. The more steps you take towards prevention and restoration, the less likely you are to ever suffer the consequences of data loss.

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