As much as you want to exclusively focus on making the content for your blog as great as possible and then maybe monetizing that content, you need to make sure that your blog’s security is set first. A compromised blog can undo months or even years of work, and the hit your reputation will suffer will be too large to measure. People need to know they’ll be safe when they visit your website, or else they’ll move onto someone else. You’ll need tools and services for the job, but fortunately they’re readily available online.
Make use of these tools for safety of your blog:
Yet before you look into specialized services that cost hundreds and don’t deliver, take a look at the tried and true options for blog and website security:
HTTPS
HTTPS protection is what separates the all right websites from the truly safe websites. It is a protocol that will protect the information exchanged between your website and any user, allowing users to safely use it without fear of anyone spying on or impersonating your website. You’ll notice it by the small padlock symbol on most address bars, and you don’t see a major website without it today. Most cyber security organizations will even go so far as to recommend that people don’t even interact with sites that don’t have it.
To get it, you need to get a HTTPS certificate, which will require you to have a dedicated IP address for your website. You will need this in the long run and should have it for security purposes right now anyway, so it is time to take the plunge if you haven’t already. Buying the certificate can seem pricey, but it’s absolutely worth the security and reputation gain in the long run. Once you have it, all you need to do is activate it and perhaps modify your website to be compatible with it (not a difficult task).
Secure Backups
Whether it is from hackers or server troubles, something is eventually going to go wrong with your website, and you might not be able to get your content back. You might also find yourself in a situation where content has been corrupted and you need to delete it before your website harms anyone. If you have a backup, you make that decision easily without regret due to the fact that you can restore everything in a matter of hours. You need a backup for these reasons and the peace of mind you get with one.
You won’t find a lack of options on the market, but some are far better than others. Cloud services can generally be trusted if you don’t have highly sensitive data to protect (if you do, get something which has user-end encryption). A physical storage drive is an option if you don’t have too much and know nature won’t strike down your house. Online options give you speed and ease of access, so for the purposes of your blog they should be the default choice.
A Virtual Private Network
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a service primarily meant to keep your blog in your hands no matter where you go and what networks you use. Originally used by businesses, they allow you to connect your device to an offsite secure server using an encrypted connection. The encryption keeps you safe on otherwise dangerous public networks where your account information and private communications could be intercepted. This leads to account theft, which could mean the loss of your blog for you and dangerous website conditions for your readers.
It also allows you to be safer through anonymity, which is used by VPN subscribers all around the world to do things from watching movies and television overseas to send reports out of oppressive countries describing war conditions. It allows you to appear as though you are surfing the internet from the location of the server you choose, so you can’t be tracked online by any individual or organization interested in your blog.
Think of the above tools and how they can be useful for your security needs. They’re all relatively easy to acquire and use, so there are no excuses you can use except your own negligence. Once you get this out of the way, you’ll be able to focus on your other goals with a clear head.
Do you have any tools or services that you would recommend yourself? Do you have any thoughts on the topics mentioned above? If so, please leave a comment below so this important conversation can be continued.
