How website management services ensure top-level website protection

Few things are more important to most businesses than their virtual shop window and most frequent first point of contact – their website. One of the key decisions you’ll need to make as your organisation grows is whether to run your site yourself or outsource this side of things and buy in website management services.

These solutions cover a wide range of areas, including strategy, web design, content planning, and search engine optimisation (SEO). They also encompass technical elements, such as backups, hosting, and software updates.

In most cases, the service provider will offer bespoke solutions tailored to the needs of individual clients. And, for various reasons, especially if you don’t have this expertise in-house, outsourcing can be the most convenient and cost-effective way forward.

Keeping your website secure

If your website is not properly secure, you and your customers’ information could be at risk. According to last year’s cyber security survey by the UK government, cyber security and breaches and attacks remain a significant threat, with half of businesses and just under a third (32%) of charities reporting some type of incident in the past year. What’s more, cyber threats are growing ever more sophisticated.

Clearly not every hacker is successful, but you should still be aware of the potential risks. These include (but are not limited to) losses to your reputation and sales from hackers, malware and data breaches; equally, web browsers could start warning potential customers that your site is not safe. The costs to your business of a hacked website can rapidly start to mount up.

How website management services can help

These services typically include stringent security features that you should ask about before you commit, including:

• Regular software updates including malware scans and removal to find and get rid of any malicious code which has infected your website, plus firewalls to block unauthorised access to it.
• Vulnerability assessments or systematic scanning to look for vulnerabilities such as outdated software, misconfigurations or other weaknesses. You’ll enjoy protection from common threats and safeguard sensitive customer data. Your provider should upgrade your site regularly so that you have the most recent security patches – updates which amend weaknesses in an operating system or program.
• Back-ups and restorations so that you can get your data back in the event of any incident, from a cyber-attack to hardware failure or even a natural disaster or human error. Ask for daily or at least weekly back-ups.
• Secure Sockets Layer or SSL security certificates – these are security protocols which encrypt data exchanged between a web server and a user’s browser. It means no third party can intercept sensitive information like billing details or passwords.
• Network monitoring to scan your site’s network and server infrastructure regularly for suspicious activity from unauthorised access attempts to strange traffic patterns. This allows for swift detection and response to incidents before major damage occurs. Look for 24/7 monitoring with advanced tools.

Advanced website security from SWSweb

At SWSweb, we offer maintenance packages for WordPress and Joomla so you have everything you need to keep your website secure, up to date, and performing at its best.

Deals include rapid UK hosting, SSL certification plus daily back-ups and 24/7 uptime monitoring, along with system updates plus a number of other security features.

Learn more about what we offer – and get in touch today to tell us about what your website needs, or any issues which you’ve been having.