Following on from our recent webinar on the theme of website optimisation we have developed a series of three blog posts that discuss website optimisation. These are high level blogs and not intended to be all encompassing but rather have been designed to kick start thoughts on concepts such as analytics, SEO and some tips to keep your website safe..

Seven ways to keep your website safe

Broken links, badly formatted code, page errors and expired SSL certificates can hurt the quality and ranking of your site. Running a website isn’t simply a case of setting it up and forgetting about it. It’s not quite build it and they will come, you need to maintain it, keep it safe and secure it in order to maximize traffic, sign-ups and conversions. Here are seven top tips for a safe and successful website:

1. ...

We're looking at a bumper crop of online frauds, cons, ID thefts, and check stealing this year. Some of them can steal your returns, others cost you your life savings or money you have not even begun to earn. As your W-2s come in, here are some simple pointers to remember about filing and online opportunities as well as methods for avoiding theft of multiple kinds.

1. First and most important - the IRS will never email you. Ever. If you get an email from the IRS or EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System), forward it to phishing@irs.gov and do not respond!

2. Beware fake Tax preparation companies.  Never enter information online unless you see HTTPS: or a green bar in the URL, and look for the Preparer Tax identification Number (PTIN) on your return. You should always receive a copy of your tax return, and a reputable tax service should never do your taxes for a percentage of the refund....

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that they have just upgraded their entire Outlook.com mail environment to an Always On SSL experience, protected by Extended Validation (EV).  This means that all of the user’s data is protected via 2048-bit encryption - not just the log on page - on Outlook.com, as well as Hotmail, and Live.

This is a big deal. Always-On SSL is the most recommended way for any kind of social media to be enabled for user security.  When a site is completely hosted over HTTPS, the user is much better protected from attacks and surveillance.  For example, on sites without Always On SSL, although the logon would be encrypted, if the subsequent pages are not protected by HTTPS the cookie with the login credentials could be intercepted and used for malicious purposes.

The dangers of...

An SSL/TLS Certificate, which website visitors see by the HTTPS:// prefix in the address bar of your browser lets you know that the site you are visiting has been authenticated, and any information you share with that site is encrypted. Knowing that a site is legitimate and secure is especially important with holiday shopping season upon us, where scam sites spring up like snowmen only to melt away with your money.

Symantec takes its responsibility as a certificate authority seriously. It is very important that we do not issue SSL certificates to questionable organizations. Any website with a Symantec SSL certificate has gone through strict authentication practices and procedures. There are also some very firm processes for revoking certificates, or not renewing certificates if there is an issue with an organization. In fact, on average 6-8% of requests for new certificates and renewals are declined. That means Symantec denies tens of thousands of requests every year, as...