Here we have listed the top mistakes that make your ecommerce websites vulnerable to hacking and fraud.

How safe is your e-commerce site?

This question is as important as your inventories and sales. This is because there has been a tremendous rise in hacking activities and ransom activities in Singapore for past some years.

Ecommerce websites have always been a main target for hackers for many reasons. Because:

• Customers enter their personal information including credit card data, creating a nice opportunity for hackers to get their hands on that data.
• Ecommerce websites are prone to malicious content, malware, spam and phishing pages due to the large numbers of customers and business marketing mistakes.

Sooner or later, your ecommerce website can be knocked down by a hacker or fraud if you are not serious about the safety of your site. Once your site is hacked, it leads to the loss of customers and the loss of reputation.

Why take a risk? Wake up!

Avoid These 10 Mistakes To Prevent Your Ecommerce Website In Singapore From Hacking

NOT USING STRONG PASSWORDS:

Using a strong password may sound a basic thing, but it can cause big damage if you neglect it, just like a small hole sinks the ship. Using passwords like 1234 or ABCD makes it easier for cyber criminals to hack your site.

If you are not convinced, here are some eye-openers for you:

• 2 out of 5 persons experience hacking and password stealing due to the simple passwords
• ABCD, WELCOME and 12345 are the most hacked passwords
• Weak passwords are the reason behind 63% security incidents in the world.

Therefore, you must be careful while creating passwords for your site. As a golden rule says, password should be large and a mix of characters, alphabets and numerals. A strong password can be the hardest nut for the hackers to crack. Also recommend your customers to use long and safe passwords.

NOT USING SECURED ECOMMERCE PLATFORM:

No matter which ecommerce platform you choose, make sure it is equipped with the latest security credentials. Does it offer necessary security measures like SSL certificate? A PCI compliant platform ensures secure environment for credit card processing.

It’s important both for your customers and your business that your store and its sensitive data remain safe and secure at all times. Choosing a secure platform ensures you a complete peace of mind.

NOT LIMITING THE STORAGE OF SENSITIVE DATA:

It doesn’t make sense to store sensitive data like credit card numbers and CVV2 codes and other customer info over your ecommerce site. It is very risky to store too much of customer’s sensitive information on a server that can lure a hacker to steal the data. Besides, PCI security standard council has strictly forbidden the storage of such crucial data.

NOT REGULARLY TESTING YOUR E-COMMERCE SITE FOR VULNERABILITIES:

Monitor your site frequently to keep the track of traffic activity and get an alert whenever a suspicious behaviour is found. There are so many real time tools available that help you monitor how your customers are navigating and interacting with your website. It will help you take immediate action to prevent it. Besides, take a note of your hosting server to check if it has malware or harmful contents. Make sure to scan your website regularly to keep virus and malware at a bay.

NOT USING FIREWALL SECURITY:

Firewall is one of the essential components to add extra layers to your e-commerce sites. It alerts you whenever any suspicious activity done on your server. It helps you avoid attacks like Trojans and viruses. To minimise the risk of SQL injection and cross-site scripting attack, an ecommerce site must layer up their security to a customer’s login page, forms and queries.

NOT EDUCATING YOUR EMPLOYEES:

Don’t overlook the role of employees in cyber security. Relying on the cyber security measures is not enough unless you educate your staff.

Here are the things helping you aware your employees about cyber security and encourage them for the same.

• Train every department having tasks over internet
• Conduct sessions frequently
• Teach them how to recognize the signs of cyber attack
• Regularly test your employee’s IT security knowledge
• Clear your IT policies about data breaching and use of devices in your business.
• Beware of the insider threat in your company

You can also read: 7 Essential Mobile Apps for a Newbie in Singapore

NOT CHOOSING WEB HOSTING SERVICE PROVIDER WISELY:

Have you ever thought your web hosting provider can play a role in your website security? Many hosting service providers offer wide range of tools and apps to make your e-commerce website secure and smooth running. So, prefer the web hosting service provider who can…

• Use at least 128 bit AES encryption or more like 256 bit
• Do regular backups
• Keep comprehensive logs
• Have written policies in case of a data breach or natural disaster
• Monitor the network
• Have single point of contact in case of emergencies

NOT KEEPING YOUR SOFTWARE UPDATED:

If you are not taking software updates seriously, you may end up another cyber victim sooner or later. This is because cyber criminals always leverage the systems that are not upgraded regularly, no matter if you are using ZenCar, OsCommerce or Xcart. The latest version of software fixes bugs in software and enhances its performance. So, patch your software or platform regularly to guard it off cyber criminals.

NOT PERFORMING REGULAR BACKUPS:

Take a backup of your HDD helps you in case something happen to your computer. Same goes for your e-commerce websites. Backup is important when crashing of websites is more common than you think. Make sure your hosing service performing the data backup on a regular basis. Sadly, many company realize the importance of data backup unless their website knocked down by hackers, computer catastrophe or malware or viruses.

We hope that you don’t join the league of such companies and be serious about your data backup.

NOT CONFIGURING SYSTEM ALERTS:

Not tracking the suspicious activities of a user during online transactions means you are asking for a trouble. Therefore, you should equip your website with an alert notice to monitor such malicious activities and doubtful transactions coming through the same IP address. You can have a system alerts for multiple orders placed by the same customer using different cards, contact info and address from the same IP address. Make sure to check the order recipient name or details matched with those of card holders.

You can also read: 7 Reasons to Use Instagram for Your Business in Singapore

So these are the tips to protect your e-commerce site from hacking and fraud. It will also encourage the customers to buy from you as they know your site is a secure place to shop.

Learn about these common marketing mistakes that small businesses make and how you can avoid them.

Have you ever thought why your marketing campaign failed?

Despite spending heavily and employing the best team, you are not able to get the desired results with your business marketing.

Where are you lacking?

A bad or failed marketing is not only a waste of time and money but also affects your sales and customer loyalty.

So, be serious and make sure you are not making these common marketing mistakes that ruin your small business like small leakages do to the big ship.

10 Must -to Avoid Business Marketing Mistakes in Singapore

1) Not Creating a Proper Marketing Plan:

Promoting your business without a marketing plan is like sitting in an exam without preparation.  And both things end up with the same result—fail. If you are lucky enough, you can get the desired result, but that cost you lot time and money in the process. Your small business needs an effective marketing plan by taking into account your requirements and target audience.

2) Not Using Digital Marketing:

If you think that digital marketing is fake or not effective for your business, go through these eye-opening stats:

• 80% people research a company online before using their services
• 78% of local-mobile searches result in offline purchases.
• Young people spend almost 3.4 hours a day on their mobile phones

So, if you don’t use digital marketing for your business, you are running the risk of being left behind to win over the potential customers and lose the lead to competitors. Digital marketing takes your business to target audiences, thereby increasing your leads, sales and customers.

3) Not Having a Business Website:

Nearly 60 percent of small businesses don’t have a website. Not having a website in this digital age means that your business doesn’t exist to 97% customers searching online for products and services before they visit their brick and mortar location. You definitely need a website to increase your visibility to online customers, verify the existence of your business and enhance customer experience. Even starting with a 3-5 page website will serve your purpose.

4) Not Identifying Your Targeting Customer:

Do you try to sell to everyone? If so, you are not alone. There are many small business owners who consider everyone to be their prospective customer. Although it is true that your product or service should appeal to a wide range of audience, you should identify your target audience so you can create interaction and marketing plans to reach them directly.

5) Not Being Aware of What Your Competitors are Doing:

What marketing strategies your competitors have? What are their services, can you offer similar or better? How are they positioning their products in the market?

There are many things you can learn by keeping a track of your competitor’s activities. In fact, you can’t get competitive edge until you know what they do.

6) Not Including Social Media in Your Marketing Strategy:

If you are not serious about your social media marketing or not using it at all, you are missing out an opportunity to reach more customers.

This is because Singaporeans are the most active social media users in the world. According to Asiaone.com, 2 in 3 “S’poreans” have admitted to social networking addiction.

Therefore, you can’t afford to miss out such golden opportunity to promote your brand.

Make sure to choose the right social media platform like Facebook or Instagram for brand promotion and be clear about your goals to make the most of your social media marketing.

7) Not Offering Discounts and Offers:

Does your marketing plan include discounts and offering? If not, you may be excluding prospective customers from your business. Discounts and offers not only attract customers, but also help you earn their loyalty.

From free seminars, deals, loyalty cards, percentage discounts, sales and trails offers, there is a wide range of promotional activities to choose from.

8) Not Measuring Your Marketing Results:

Tracking your marketing campaign is essential to know if it is working. In simple words, you should know if your marketing campaign is effective or not. It will help you recognize your key areas of improvement in the campaign.

9) Not Using Mobile App:

You may think that your business doesn’t need a mobile app to sell products at this time. But if you want to prepare for the future and start seeing yourself getting a competitive advantage, you’ll need a mobile app.

This is because people in Singapore are using a mobile app for everything, whether it’s ticket booking, finding things, shopping, banking or finding property. From connecting to customers, beating the competition, to building a brand, a mobile app makes it possible for you to achieve your business goals.

Even it is seen that mobile apps are beneficial for tuition agency in Singapore in many ways.

10) Not Trying New Marketing Strategies:

Marketing is the not the routine thing, requiring you to experimenting with your marketing tactics. Besides, you should keep pace with the changes and prepare for the new marketing strategies.

So, these are the common marketing mistakes you should avoid while creating your campaign. The more you avoid these marketing blunders, the faster you will turn your business into a successful brand and enjoy the success you are longing for.