Backups and security

Security on a small business site is mostly unglamorous upkeep. Hosting with me covers it.

What hosting does

• HTTPS on every page, so visitors see the padlock and not a warning.
• Backups, so a mistake or a break can be undone.
• Updates, so the parts behind the site stay current.
• Uptime checks. If the site goes down, I get the alert, not your customers.

The sites themselves are built light and simple, which also means less to break.

What you can do

• Keep the domain account in your name and know the login. Losing it is the most common way owners get stuck.
• Don't email passwords. If I need access to something, we'll set it up another way.
• Tell me when something looks wrong. A screenshot and the page address is perfect.

What not to send through a website form

A website contact form sends a plain email. It's fine for "Hi, I'd like a quote." It isn't built for health records, payment details or account logins, so keep those out of it. That goes for your own site's form too. On sites for practices, the page tells visitors not to send private details through it.

If you host somewhere else, these are good questions to ask your host. What hosting covers has the full list for mine.