Website Security Impacts SEO

Website Security Impacts SEO

Organic Search impacted by hacking or malwareWith all the things  happening in the world today, the word “security” is being used in a wide range of topics.  But when it comes to websites, I’m willing to bet that most small business owners believe only shopping websites like Amazon or financial institutions like Fidelity need to worry about their website security.  However, you might be surprised to know that website security is important for all small business websites as well.

It goes without saying that if your website has been compromised by hackers, malware, or a virus, your customers or prospective clients might be scared away from your site or worse yet, their computer becomes infected.  But did you know that your Search Engine Ranking could be impacted as well?

Google has been using website security as part of their search engine ranking algorithm for a while, but now if your website is flagged, Google will display this type of message:

Google warning message for hacked website

Wordfence.com, a website security company, recently took a survey of the WordPress community that asked if their website has ever been flagged by Google as “hacked” or containing malicious content.  Of the respondents who knew, 46.5% reported being flagged.  Out of the total respondents, 45% said their search traffic was impacted because Google had flagged them.

If this situation has never happened to you and YOU DO NOT have any security applied to your website, then consider yourself lucky.  But, as everyone eventually finds out, good luck can turn to bad luck very quickly.  Don’t wait around for bad luck to catch up with you.  Contact plumThumb today to find out how our Managed Website Plans can keep your good luck running strong.

 

 

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