Cyber attacks are fairly commonplace for website owners, with even a small number of Thrive’s clients coming to us as a result of a cyberattack and requiring our support in resolving the situation.
Of course, the best course of action when it comes to cyberattacks is prevention rather than resolution.
A bonus of focusing some time, money and resources on improving your website’s cybersecurity is that paying attention to your site’s security can also have a knock-on positive effect on your SEO performance too. Yes, really!
Some simple and SEO-effective ways to boost your website’s security levels are listed below, and if you need support with any of them, we’re happy to help!
All of Thrive’s clients are offered a support package, of varying levels, to prevent a security attack, and protect your website in the unlikely event of an incident. If you wish to enquire about this service, we’d be happy to chat.
HTTPS is more than just a ‘nice to have’
Some websites include https:// and some don’t, starting instead with http://
More recently you might have noticed on some browsers and search engine results pages (SERPs) that the http:// choices are:
- Further down the SERPs as Google ranks them lower than https:// results
- Come with a warning either in the search engine, or once you are on a http:// website, there will be a warning in the address bar (on desktop)
These changes have come about as a result of Google’s initiative to serve users with better, more relevant, secure results.
Https:// results are sites that have an SSL certificate, which means the website you are viewing is encrypted and secure - a vital requirement for any websites on which you’re inputting personal information, including contact and/or payment details.
Maintain your website’s maintenance and updates schedule
Your website will likely require a regular review as website design and build trends develop, the platforms that they’re built on change and your business’ core services may change too.
A crucial way to maintain your website’s security is to maintain all of your website platform’s updates, this is a particularly straightforward task for WordPress users, who can update the WordPress platform, and all plugins from their dashboard.
Not maintaining updates can result in performance and security issues that will leave your website vulnerable to attack.
Summary
The most crucial thing you can do for your website’s security - and SEO performance - is to keep ahold of your site’s age, its performance and the platform it is running on. If you haven’t run any maintenance work on your website and its platform recently (the last 6-12 months or longer) you should act.
If you are unsure about how secure your website is, Thrive is happy to have a no-obligation chat and review of your site’s backend to highlight any flaws that leave you vulnerable to security risks.
