With the intensification of mobile devices and the Internet of Things, the web has progressively become vital to our lives and for online businesses, it means more and more opportunities than ever.
Internet shopping is all over the place, and it's not unusual for customers to run through a brick and mortar store with a cell phone in hand, all set to compare the prices of merchandise at their preferred online outlet.
With this, it also brings more opportunities than ever before to the online crooks. All that scandalous customer data draws them in like sharks, whether it is the complete credit card numbers or just email addresses.
As per Symantec, the number of data gaps augments yearly, almost amplifying from 2012-2014. Cybercrime is a massive industry, bringing in several millions of dollars each year.
In 2017, e-commerce was responsible for nearly $2.3 trillion in sales and it is anticipated to hit $4.5 trillion by 2021 (according to a Statista report). In the US alone, e-commerce exemplifies nearly 10% of retail sales and that number is expected to increase by almost 15% each year!
This has been observed as well, after some very prominent data gaps in huge corporate businesses. News coverage has carried the problem back into the public eye, which is right and wrong at the same time for the e-commerce operators.
On one hand, well-versed users are less likely to be hacked. They will use the correct and secure password practices, avoid clicking on phishing links, and usually are more aware of the prospective hazards of the online marketplace.
On the other hand, knowledgeable users are very much on the viewpoint for the proof of unsafe sites. They are less likely to comprehend and pardon a gap, and will usually move right on to a challenging site if they don’t feel secure.
However, a comparatively small gap can be overwhelming to client confidence and so safekeeping for eCommerce websites is on every online specialist’s mind nowadays.
Our Tips for E-commerce Website Security that Shows How our E-commerce Site is Safe in a Different Way:
Implement HTTPS
HTTPS and a valid SSL certificate are the new standards, particularly for e-commerce sites. It’s crucial for secure online transactions of any type. That includes purchases and monetary transactions, but also data as simple and safe as an email address for a newsletter signup. Google is sensible about the value of HTTPS as well. They have started prioritizing HTTPS-secured sites in their search results. This makes an SSL certificate a powerful SEO method as well as a great security tool.
Opt for a Secure E-commerce Platform
The absolute number of e-commerce website development companies in India available nowadays is frightening. When choosing your platform, pay attention to security over flash. If they don’t have a strong plan on how to defend your consumers, take off.
Keep in mind that features such as social integrations and lead seizure are not only commonplace but they can frequently be included with exterior solutions or add-ons.
These features are excellent for consumer engagement and retention, but they are not as mission-critical as safekeeping.
Most of the e-commerce packages interface with PCI-compliant payment processors and can apply powerful passwords.
The platform you opt for should, at a minimum, have a protected checkout page. Site-wide security making use of SSL is even better, and it’s not a tough feature to find.
For extra login security, look for software that discourages password guessing through features such as CAPTCHA and two-factor security.
A sign in session timeout, which automatically signs out the user after some time of inactivity, is also essential.
Safe and Secure Web Hosting
Likewise, there are so many choices for web hosting that it’s tough to choose one. There needs to be an emphasis on both reliability and security when choosing your host.
The e-commerce website that’s always down will drive away consumers just as certainly as one that is vulnerable to hackers.
Opt for a host that incorporates security features such as backups and SSL certificates. Even though it’s certainly possible to manage these tasks yourself, several hosts today are more than happy to help you by offering their web hosting services for a very small fee if it’s not already included in your hosting plan.
In particular, choose a host that offers dependable and experienced 24-hour technical support. When your site is in trouble, and it will be at some point all through its life, you’ll be very pleased you did.
DDoS Protection and Mitigation
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks continue to be the most common means by which hackers challenge online purchase security. They are comparatively easy to implement and are still very effective against various sites.
In core, DDoS shuts down a website by overworking it with traffic. Tons of systems, called “bots”, start requesting data from the website at the same time.
The site can’t continue functioning with the amount of traffic so it slows down until finally, it crashes.
The method can be effective on any website notwithstanding of how much bandwidth or server capacity its host offers. Any amount of bandwidth is eventually limited.
The top analogy is of a throng of people standing in front of the doors of a business, preventing other people from going inside.
In e-commerce, DDoS attacks are often implemented by unprincipled competitor websites, particularly during hectic shopping times such as Black Friday or the holidays.
If your website goes down during the holiday season, the loss of sales can be disastrous. That’s precisely what the perpetrators of this cyber-crime want.
Fortunately, there are now DDoS security and mitigation services available to battle them.
DDoS mitigation services work as a “gatekeeper” for traffic to your website.
Any requests for data are sent through the service first, which carefully checks the traffic to make sure it is a definite human user as opposed to an automated DDoS bot.
The process is unseen and flawless to your users, and bots are simply rejected access to your site.
For this reason, use one! Making sure your website continues to function and is available to legitimate visitors will save your customers a large amount of inconvenience and interruption while making their purchases. Also, it will save your bottom line!
Use Multiple Layers of Security
One solution just isn’t adequate.
Set backups in place for all your points of access, and then have backups to those backups.
This is one of the key values in security for e-commerce websites. Hackers are determined, and no single type of security is seamless.
They will find a way through your wall of protection. The trick is to make sure the only thing they find behind that is the next wall.
Don’t Store Sensitive Billing Information
If your site is PCI compliant, and it must be, then you’ve previously applied this tip. If not, then keep in mind a simple axiom: You can’t steal from an empty house.
Store the smallest amount of consumer billing information required, and heavily encrypt the data that you do keep.
For the best credit card security for online purchases, you should only store the information required to process repayments and chargebacks.
Depending on the size of your store, a hosted payment processor might make the most sense.
Normally, these solutions will encode billing information more firmly than a smaller site can afford on its own.
The same is true for email addresses and other consumer information.
Even though the hazard is not as instantaneous, lost personal information can expose consumers to identity theft.
Your website should store the least amount of information necessary to conduct your operations.
Need Strong Passwords
Website security begins with you, but it can finish with your users. All the security in the world won’t guarantee the protection of a customer who chooses “1234” as their password.
Use a more advanced password. Apply powerful passwords on your site, comprising upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters.
For an additional enhancement of security, enable and encourage the use of 2-factor protection. Verification by text message or mobile app augments security and refines your image.
Security for E-commerce Websites – Start from Day 1
As an experienced person in the industry knows, e-commerce website protection is an endless battle.
The hackers and cybercriminals only get bolder and more inspired every year as the number of targetable websites and consumers increases.
Setting security at the top of your main concern list is more vital than ever before.
For a vast company such as Target, a major data gap is uneasy and expensive. Reparations, settlements, and immense PR campaigns allow them to move on, every so often barely.
For a smaller e-commerce website operator, it can mean the end of the business.
Customer faith can take years to reconstruct once gone astray. That is years of lost revenues, and that is something that many stores just can’t afford.
Correctly safeguarding a website takes time, focused knowledge, and resources. In an online business, especially a new one, those three things can be in short supply.
Decent security is well worth the upfront effort and cost, though it can mean the difference between success and failure for them throughout the life of the business.
7 Points to Consider while Launching Your First E-commerce Website:
User
When planning and developing your first e-commerce website, you should always focus widely on the users and their choices.
Remember that a web store does not let customers touch, feel or smell the products physically.
Therefore, you must keep the users engaged by making their shopping experience rapid and hassle-free.
You can always keep the visitors engaged by offering products at cut-rate prices, providing free shipping, and keeping the shopping and checkout process simple.
Along with that, it is always wise to choose the best services with the help of an e-commerce development company.
Design
You need to pay attention to the design and user interface of the website to attract and engage with visitors successfully.
Unlike recognized brands, you have to explore ways to earn the trust and confidence of your visitors.
Therefore, you have to include a number of features in the website design such as a noticeable logo, shopping deals, product options, product reviews and testimonials, and a call to action.
At the same time, you have to make sure that the look and feel of the website is instinctive enough to keep the buying process simple and up-front. That’s why it is important to hire a Magento website development company from one of the top e-commerce development companies.
Mobile Optimization
As stated earlier, a huge percentage of today’s users choose m-commerce apps over e-commerce websites.
Similarly, many people will access e-commerce websites on their smartphones, tablets or phablets.
Hence, you need to make sure with the Magento e-commerce development company that the e-commerce website provides an optimal user experience on both computers and mobile devices.
You can choose a responsive web design by a top Magento web development company to make the web store look fantastic on each device with a single code base. The mobile optimization will further boost the website's visibility on major search engine results pages (SERPs).
Shopping Cart
Your choice of shopping cart will have a direct influence on the user experience provided by the e-commerce site.
You have the option to select from a wide range of open source and commercial shopping carts written in different programming languages when you get e-commerce website design services.
You should choose shopping cart software that allows users to check their prior and current purchases fast and conveniently. Being able to review current and previous orders is a huge benefit for the customers that will build trust and confidence in your company, and ultimately keep them coming back.
Likewise, the shopping cart should enable users to add or remove items without much hassle.
At the same time, you also have to augment the accessibility and visibility of the shopping cart by using the commonly used simple basket icon. Along with that, better to go for a correct Magento development company.
Payment Options
The choice of online payment options differ from one consumer to another.
Some customers choose to make payments through their debit/credit cards or internet banking facility, while others prefer popular online payment options such as PayPal and digital wallets.
Therefore, you have to make sure that each customer can easily make their payment for the products they are purchasing.
At the same time, you also need to keep the online payment and financial transactions of customers safe by using a dependable payment gateway and the latest encryption methods.
In this case, an e-commerce website development company will help you in a better way.
Trust Marks
The trust marks and authorization certificates will boost the credibility of your recently launched web store. The trust marks will further promise customers that their personal data will stay private and online transactions will be kept 100% secure.
Search Engine Visibility
You can easily attract daily search engine traffic to your website by fulfilling the recommendations by popular search engines such as Google and Bing.
For example, Google ranks websites based on metrics like mobile friendliness and load time. Likewise, it recommends that businesspersons build web stores with responsive web design.
While planning the e-commerce website, you must keep in mind the guidelines and references of the major online search engines with the need to opt for a reliable online website development company.
The search engine of an optimized design from the e-commerce development company will assist you in getting regular website visitors without launching expensive digital marketing campaigns in the future.
Conclusion
You further have to assess all important features such as user interface, functionality, performance, usability, security, and user experience - throughout the e-commerce website development process itself to make it popular within a small amount of time. An e-commerce website development company helps to provide your business with great e-commerce website solutions.
Read Also
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