website management

Is Your Website on Par with Legal Compliance and User Trust?

September 11, 2018 by Denise Bernstein

So far, 2018 has been a big year for enforcing legal compliance (GDPR) and user trust (HTTPS), which are both critical elements to running your business online these days. The important question to ask now is: When was the last time you updated your website?

If lately you’ve been noticing less traffic and conversions, it’s time to make changes. Without these important updates to your website’s functionality, you’re doing your own business a disservice. Here’s what you need to take care of immediately.

GDPR (legal compliance)

The sooner you get your business GDPR compliant the better. According to this regulation approved by the EU Parliament, any company in the world that stores or processes data of people who live in the European Union needs to be in compliance with GDPR by May 25th 2018. Otherwise, you might face hefty fines – up to $24million (20m Euros) or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher.

Now, how to get your business compliant with GDPR? First, assign someone on your team responsible for reading the provisions of the GDPR to fully understand the requirements and specific circumstances your business might be involved with. Then make sure all your employees are aware of the new laws.

Bottom line is, you need to immediately update your Privacy Policy and have it visibly displayed and easily accessible on your website. See our example here.

Next, you need to inform your online visitors of the cookies available on your website and give them a choice to opt in or out.

It should look similar to this:

User Trust and Data Security

Data security has been the top concern in 2018, and it all comes down to establishing and maintaining user trust. Google Chrome announced a lot of changes to their online functionalities, especially regarding old http websites. The question is: Have you implemented the SSL Certificate on your website yet?

What is SSL Certificate?

According to Go Daddy, a certificate serves as an electronic “passport” that establishes an online entity’s credentials when doing business on the Web. When an Internet user attempts to send confidential information to a Web server, the user’s browser accesses the server’s digital certificate and establishes a secure connection.

(what you see when you enter old http websites)

In other words, if being authentic and making your customers feel well taken care of is your top priority, this update is crucial to running your business online. Trust, confidentiality, protection and better search (SEO) are some of the major benefits of upgrading your old http website to https.

Need assistance with implementing all necessary changes to your website? Contact Advertising Is Simple today!

Advertising Is Simple is a full-service marketing agency located in Wilmington, Delaware helping small to mid-sized businesses with all their digital marketing, radio and television advertising needs. Call us now.

Advertising Is Simple | 302.407.0431 | info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

Is Your HTTP Website Losing Traffic? Here’s why.

July 17, 2018 by Advertising

In the past years, security in the digital space has become a prominent concern among online creators and consumers. More recently, we’ve seen new GDPR compliance requirements as well as many Google Chrome updates issuing security warnings to those who manage an http website collecting some sort of customer data. If you’re one of the web owners who still haven’t upgraded to HTTPS, you may want to reconsider. Here’s why.

According to Search Engine Journal, Google Chrome will show a prominent “Not Secure” message in the browser bar starting in October 2018. After October 2018 Chrome and likely all other Chrome based browsers will display enhanced security warnings that may create higher bounce rates for your site and concomitantly lower sales and conversions.

Benefits of Purchasing a SSL Certificate

These days, there’s nothing more important to your brand than being authentic and making your customers feel well taken care of. That is why security of their private information should be your top priority when managing your online business.

When the SSL Certificate is implemented on your website, it establishes an online entity’s credentials for doing business on the Web. Such action promotes trust, protection, confidentiality and also, better ranking of your business in Google search. Win win!

Ready to upgrade your HTTP Website?

At Advertising Is Simple, we are offering implementation on every page and handling redirects for $249 until July 31, 2018 (regular price: $299). *SSL Certificate fee not included – must be purchased by the client separately.

Have more questions about the SSL Certificate and upgrading to HTTPS? Do not hesitate to ask! We are here to help you implement any necessary changes to your website.

Advertising Is Simple | 302.407.0431 | info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

What You Need To Know About Security Warnings in Google Chrome

September 26, 2017 by Advertising

Are you in charge of your own standalone IC Site or client sites that have forms on web pages that are HTTP (not HTTPS)? If so, you might have received an email from Google Search Console recently reminding you that starting October 17, 2017, these pages will be showing security warnings in Google Chrome.

Do you manage websites that are HTTP and have pages with forms capturing some sort of customer data (eg. contact us form)? If yes, this notice is very important for your case and you should definitely care about the difference between http and https. Why?

It might seem so sudden, but the Google’s plan to change labeling HTTP sites as non-secure has been gradually taking place since January 2017, following the change of Chrome 56. In recent statements, Chrome explained this initiative as cracking down on HTTP infractions with credit cards and passwords. “Passwords and credit cards are not the only types of data that should be private. Any type of data that users type into websites should not be accessible to others on the network, so starting in version 62 Chrome will show the “Not secure” warning when users type data into HTTP sites.” – Chromium Blog

So what’s the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?

Whenever you’re visiting the HTTP site, you sit at your browser and interact with data. However, how the data travels from Point A to Point B, or even if it travels at all, is none of HTTP’s concern.

It’s similar with HTTPS, BUT when security is a must, HTTPS differentiates one sender and receiver from another. The SSL actually encrypts the coming and going data. This means that SSL uses a mathematical algorithm to hide the true meaning of the data. The hope is that this algorithm is so complex it is either impossible or prohibitively difficult to crack, therefore making data submitted through HTTPS web page (contact details, credit card info) more secure.

How to avoid these security warnings in Google Chrome?

Host with a dedicated IP address.
Buy a Certificate.
Activate the Certificate.
Install the Certificate.
Update your site to use HTTPS.

If you migrate your site from HTTP to HTTPS, Google treats this as a site move with a URL change. This can temporarily affect some of your traffic numbers.

See the site move overview page to learn more. Also, here is more information on Google Search Console recommendations about https.

Call 302-407-0431

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