Time to secure your website: Before this happens to you!

So a terrible thing happened while I was away on vacation recently. It was in my final week of travel when a client received an email that his website had some malicious code on it.

The Hack and Warning
The email included examples of what the code looked like and where we could find it.  What made us suspicious was that the email was full of typos and mis-used words.  So it could have been a hoax.  But it wasn't.

The email was from a security company I'd never heard of or worked with. I'm not sure how they knew there was this code on the website, and it might not be polite for me to guess, but as soon as I got back to Canada I checked it out. And sure enough the code was there just like they said and more.

So this happened to our website...
In the meantime, something has been sent to Google and the site had the dreaded red warning over it in so no online visitors would feel safe clicking through to the website. 

The website was essentially down.  Traffic was at a halt and I was on the phone reaching out for help.  With some good advice, we took care of all the malicious code in a couple of days and submitted the site to Google for their approval.  

How We Fixed the Problem
We also added an SSL Certificate and Site Lock scanning to help keep the site safe from other attacks and let the public know it was a secure site.

SSL encrypts the link between a browser and the website's server and tells the browser it's a safe connection. You can usually tell because secure sites show the https:// prefix.  SSL used to be difficult and costly to implement, but now you can do it yourself online affordably.  Click here to get your SSL certificate for your own website.  

Going Live Again
Overall, getting the website to this safe state took about 15 hours and a small investment in the security services.  That was nothing compared to the week it took for the site to be free of the red warning box.  It was quite the process.  If you want to learn more, contact us.

Why You Need SSL in 2017!

In 2017, many website hosts including WordPress will begin requiring that websites can use the https:// prefix, meaning they are secure and certified.
If your website doesn't show https:// (with the s) you should seriously consider adding SSL now. In addition to the encryption, Google also weights SSL as a search engine ranking factor, and we can surmise that that requirement will only increase in the coming months as well.

If you've had a similar experience and want to share, please post it in the comments.   Thanks for helping me to help you:  I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

10 Ways to Make Small Business Week Count

It's nearly the end of BDC Small Business Week^TM  (Oct 20-26), and besides talking to myself, I haven't had one conversation about the state of small business, their value to our communities, or participated in a learning opportunity or networking event! Not for lack of time, but rather for lack of attention.

This got me thinking that it really is important to take note of small business.  

We all know that if we don't use local small business, we lose them. We lose a resource, and option, an employer, and a bit of character in our towns.  

So, how do Canadians show their "support" for small business besides the obvious "Shop Local, Buy Local" programs?

Getting on the Front Page of Google: Just Press 1

Like many businesses, we've been getting a lot of calls lately from a 360 area code, who never leaves a message but keeps calling.   It's always a robot caller implying they work for Google and guaranteeing (yes, guaranteeing) to put our business listing on the front page of search engines.   Sometimes I just hang up, but this time.... 

I finally decided to make them stop calling.  I pressed "1" to receive the offer. 

Websites are the new brochure, and social media is not a marketing plan

20 years ago, just before the internet took off, we used to call it the "brochure solution" because all our clients thought they needed a brochure to sell their product, program, or business service.

They often got a brochure, or a postcard, or a flyer, or a direct mail piece, but they also got guidance on how to design them, how to write them, what to do with them, when & how to distribute them, and how to support their investment with other marketing tools like news releases, events, advertising, speeches etc.  We could add a lot of value to that little brochure request.

Today, the website is the new brochure.
While everyone needs one, and they're worth investing in, they need a lot of support.  New products, programs, and business services need more support than "putting it out there on social media." Social media can help drive traffic to your website but there's so much more than that to do. Social media (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest Google+ etc), isn't a marketing plan.  

When we develop marketing plans we consider strategies in public relations (including social media, text messaging, events, email etc), government relations, media relations, stakeholder relations, customer relations, staff relations, advertising (online, mobile, traditional etc), product and content development. When designed into an integrated marketing plan, these strategies can all help achieve your goals as well as drive traffic to your website.

So don't make the mistake of making a website and social media your only marketing solution.
If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.

The Journey of App Development

Well, it's been quite the journey.  


I conceived of a new business and personal app about 2 years ago, and when no one else invented it, I decided to take the plunge myself about 4 months ago and I'm pleased to announce that it has just now been uploaded to the app store and is awaiting approval.  Iphone and Android platforms are in the works.  


I can hear you all asking now -- What?? You developed it first for BlackBerry? What was I thinking??


Well, since it's an app that I really wanted, and since I am a committed BlackBerry user, like most of BB uers are :), I naturally had to develop it for BlackBerry first.  Plus, it integrates a lot of native BlackBerry capability so I assumed it might also be the most challenging.


So I'm not going to tell you about the app just yet, until it is live and available for purchase, but I do want to share some Pinnacle Thoughts with you on the app development process that I have learned along the way. 


I have discovered there are four stages to developing a fully interactive app, not the kind that is basically a miniature web page.  


The four stages are:
1. Conception --- Dream and drawn out how the app will work. Write a features and benefits page. Start searching for names, urls, logos, trademarks and competition. Run it by your most trusted friends.


2. Production --- Hire an App developer and maybe someone who has been through the process before and can speak the technical language.  Utilize a non-disclosure agreement.

3. Place --- upload the App on the online stores.  This is quite a detailed process with many linear steps including getting a business payment system, proving your identity and taxation status, making applications to become a vendor, producing the rights to all third-party content, get the app reviewed and approved, and much, much more.


4.  Promote --- Start writing the marketing plan including public relations and paid online media strategies. Set a budget and make sure your promotion is true to the functionality of the app as completed.  Not all ideas can always be implemented for each platform.
I am working on parts of steps 3 & 4 and looking forward to blogging a bit more about the experience once it has launched on all three platforms! 
Stay tuned!! 
If you've developed an app, what was your experience like? Which of the four steps was your favourite and least favourite? Did i miss a step?  Please add your comments below, I just may do this again!!

A radio station isn't a radio station anymore, it's a website!

I can't believe it's been nearly two months since I last blogged. I just got word that an out of town client wants to delay my road trip this morning, so I've gained an hour or so early in my day. Still, rather than working on social media presentations this week for a Rotary and municipal groups, I have a greater interest in blogging at the moment.

We recently had a new radio station open up in our city and I wanted to track them down while travelling in my car via blackberry. No telephone directly listing-- they're a month old! They didn't show up on a google search; they have no canpages.com listing. I couldn't reach them. And it got me to thinking....

Maybe, just maybe, the station isn't a station, but actually a front for a website! Think of it: A website that has a built-in, 24/7 promotion machine (the radio station). Now as an advertiser, wouldn't you want your business to be on that website? A commercial on the radio is hit and miss-- you only reach who's listening at the moment, (kind of like twitter), but if you're on their website and they're constantly driving your demographic to their website, now there's a measurable, marketing advantage for your company.

The mass media product becomes the source for driving customers to your landing pages, just a click or two away. Wouldn't it be fun to see those conversion rates? Could work for television, and newspaper too. Throw in the QR codes and you're really getting interactive and mobile.

Crazy way of thinking about broadcasters and publishers...or a new revenue-generating model for media? Their product (newspaper, tv shows, news coverage) becomes simply a way to send clients to their web sites where businesses are paying prime dollar for "above the fold" online pages. Lock in a good contract today--online real estate with proven ability to attract readers and consumers will be going up in price.

That's my Pinnacle Thought for today. Tell me what you think!