The growth of the internet has provided website owners with unique business opportunities. This incredible growth has enabled entrepreneurs of all ages to sell their products and services to a worldwide audience.
However, many forget to give their website the same consideration in regards to security. Most people understand the negative effect that a damaged operating system would have on a business owner, and therefore all efforts are made to secure the operating system and the local network. Unfortunately, many overlook their website.
Many websites are well aware of the need for an antivirus software to protect their home network and computer, and most of them have such a software installed that actively protects them from malicious software. Again, many forget to give their website the same consideration in regards to security. Unfortunately, many overlook the possibility of the website being destroyed by a virus, even though it is a relatively common occurrence in the online world.
With all of the work that goes into building a comprehensive website over time, it may actually be more devastating to lose a website than to lose a PC or even an operating system. When a website is brought down by a virus, it cannot be quickly replaced like an operating system or PC. In fact, the damage that is done can take months to repair, especially when you consider how many negative events can transpire as the result of a worm attack. The most obvious effect will be the loss of traffic that will be seen soon after the worm has infected your website.
Everyday there are thousands of new internet users online. Despite the fact that more people all the time are making purchases on the internet, there are a great deal of consumers who remain uneasy about the process and because of that are timid about the internet. Consumers are becoming more and more smarter, more savvy and more guarded about what can put them at risk. Online customers need to be confident that their personal information is safe and that their privacy will be upheld at all times.
One study by Forrester Research, Inc., uncovered that a whopping 84 percent of consumer survey respondents indicated they didn't think retailers were doing enough to protect them online. The other finding from London-based TNS PLC, a market research company, found that 75 percent of online shoppers surveyed say they had abandoned a retail site due to security concerns.
Website business owners are constantly trying to improve business. What many don't realize is that by improving their website security, they can improve their sales. Customers say that the security of a website is the number one reason why they do or do not shop on particular websites.
Websites have emerged as the target of choice for money hungry hackers. The ramifications for companies are clear: Loss of data, loss of consumer confidence and loss of brand integrity. No company can afford the black mark of a website hack.
Consider the fact that 8 out of 10 websites visited each day have a serious security vulnerability that puts corporate and customer data at risk. Add to that the irreparable harm done to a company whose brand is compromised by a publicized attack. It's a call to action for any company doing any of its business on the Web.
Despite the enormous number of attacks and despite widespread publicity about these vulnerabilities, most website owners fail to scan effectively for the common flaws and become unwitting tools used by criminals to infect the visitors that trusted those sites to provide a safe web experience.
As an internet merchant, an important asset for you is the credibility and trust your website conveys to prospective customers. It may seem like a minor thing, but if visitors trust you and your site, they'll more likely buy something, and the more credibility you have, the higher your conversion rate will be.
Conversion Rate is the number of visitors on your site who actually do what you want them to. For instance if you get 1000 visitors on your site a day and 20 of them buy your product, your conversion rate is 2%. Credibility is crucial if you want to make money with your web site. Your website visitors must have trust in your company. It's pointless to spend a lot of work on getting visitors from search engines if these visitors don't convert to sales.
It makes sense for you as a website owner to remove all the fear, doubt, and suspicion that accompanies making a buying decision online. When there is no hesitation to do what you want your online visitors to do, your conversion rates will increase. When you increase the amount of traffic that trusts you, more people will do what you want them to do. Any doubt or hesitation on their part, substantially decreases your chances of making the sale and lowers your conversion rate.
Website security is of major importance to website owners and the people who are using the websites. As a site owner you are responsible for ensuring that your users are able to view your website without the risk of problems associated with malware, viruses and trojans.
Security is an extremely important consideration for any businesses, especially if your business is connected to the internet. When conducting business across the internet you are faced with issues like mitigating security risks and building customer trusts.
Establishing trust with the customers is highly essential for earning profits and higher sales. The trust factor is the same for a physical shop as well as for a website. If you have offered a quality product the first time, the same thing is expected when they come a second time for purchase and if you fail to offer that similar quality, they look for another website.
A site that succeeds in developing a confidence factor in their clients are successful in selling their products/services to them. The Market is basically dominated by feelings and emotions of the customers. A product that fulfills clients' needs are demanded repeatedly by them, thus creating brand loyalty.
People's trust, once broken, is difficult to restore. The reasons might be many and different in nature. Sometimes companies make fake promises at the time of sale and fail to fulfill it or are unable to deliver quality goods or services. Nearly all customers might have been duped of their expectations by merchants once in their lives, or have listened to their friends or relatives about the bad experience.
There's no doubt that you have already heard numerous stories of hacked credit card details on the net. These incidents are widespread. This is the root cause why online buyers are a little doubtful to just type in their personal information whenever asked. They needed to know the website they are purchasing from is safe. Before customers are ready to give you sensitive information such as their home address or credit card number, they need to be reassured that your website is safe and secure. Ensuring your customer's security should be a top priority. After all, how will customers react if they learn that their sensitive information (such as credit card details) were compromised on your website?
Hackers and harmful code writers can intrude a site of electronic commerce for the purpose of theft of invaluable details, such as the number of a credit card and other helpful information. Your web site, certainly, will be mentioned and can become a dwelling of cybercriminals. It can force you to lose your valuable clients, and also electronic business. Considering that most hackers spend hours every day trying to find new exploits, hacking into sites and looking for opportunities to steal cash from hard working business owners, you need to put forth the same effort to protect your website.
Thinking that your data is safe does not mean your database of sensitive organization information has not already been cloned and is resident elsewhere ready to be sold to the highest bidder. To make matters worse, only recently, it has been discovered that hackers are not simply selling your information; they're also selling the fact that you have vulnerabilities to others. It seems that most hack attacks are discovered months after the initial breach simply because attackers do not want and will not leave an audit trial. Hackers are interested in stealing the data and leaving it intact.
With the increased accessibility to information on the Internet, web security is a vital necessity. Attacks can range from simple nuisances to dangerous compromises of sensitive data. It is important, during website development, that all possible security threats be considered to ensure adequate protection of the website as well as end users.
If you're not doing everything in your power to make your website visitors feel safe and secure while buying from your website then you could be losing up to 49% of your sales. And this has nothing to do with how persuasive your sales pitch is or how fancy your website looks. When it comes to making that critical decision whether to buy from you or not, the final straw is the consumer's concerns about their online security. You cannot afford to ignore these facts, especially in these times of recession when online shoppers are looking for real value and are becoming pickier about where they spend their dollars.
You should now hopefully realize that the most important aspect of operating an online business is keeping your investments secure at all times. The internet is a very dangerous place, especially for business that conduct hundreds or thousands of dollars in eCommerce each and every day. Having a secure website not only prevents the loss of profits, but it also boosts sales as your customers will be more confident when shopping with you if they know that your site is safe.
Most of all, keep in mind that when you support your website with the appropriate website security, you are increasing the trust of your customers, which in return increases sales for you. Website security is essential, make sure you are doing all that you can to ensure a safe site for you and your customers.
So now that you know that website security might as well stand for increased confidence and sales, what are you doing to ensure that your customers are getting the right security signals from you?
If you want more information on plugging the security loopholes in your website, please visit the following website:
http://www.websiteprotection.net/
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