You’re driving down a familiar road to a business you visit frequently. There in front of you pops up a sign: “Entering insecure area.” “You should not enter any sensitive information on this site such as passwords or credit cards because it could be stolen by attackers.”
What would you do? Turn around and leave most likely. Yet if your website is not secure that is what the search engines are telling visitors about your website. “The site isn't using a private connection. Someone might be able to see or change the information you send or get through this site. “
How often have you heard about another hacked site and that personal information is stolen? Online trust is a big and growing problem. How many current or new customers or patients could be lost because your website is not to be trusted?
In this short article we are going to cover three items:
- How to check to see if your website is secure
- If your site is not secure, what options do you have to fix the problem?
- What actions to take today
Step 1: How to check to see if your site is secure
1. Open a browser and enter the URL for your website. What do you see where the URL is listed? Below are two examples. The ABC.com site is secure as is CBS.com site is secure. Look at the information the browser displays when you click on the information button.
What does a browser show with your website URL? Is the site secure or insecure and risky?
If your site is secure, then there’s nothing to worry about. No need to read any further.
Step 2: If your site is not secure what options do you have to fix the problem
You have done the test in step one and you’ve found your website is not secure. You have two options
1. Do nothing.
2. Call your website site provider or web designer/master
3. You can contact us, and we can refer you to one of our tech experts.
Step 3. What actions to take today.
Take a few minutes and check to see if your website is secure. If it is secure, then there is nothing else to do, and have a great day.
If your website is not secure go back to back step 2. Since an insecure website will scare off visitors, it is important to fix this soon. As mentioned above, most new customers or patients will visit your website at least once before visiting or picking up a phone to schedule an appointment. If a new customer or patient is undecided on whether to call your office or another doctor, you do not this to be a potential roadblock.