Before you spend your time reading this post, I will warn you, we’re discussing a topic many bloggers prefer not to think about. I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you want to read this post, or just move on.
You see, we’re talking about making our blogs, “our babies”, safe and secure.
Continue reading, or not….
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I can still remember when I crashed my blogs.
I stared at the error message on the screen and got sick to my stomach.
Being new to blogging, I didn’t know what to do so I kept refreshing the page thinking it would correct itself.
It didn’t.
In all honesty, I knew it was what I had done behind the scenes that created that error. I “thought” I knew what I was doing.
I didn’t.
Today’s Lesson
It’s one thing when we mess around behind the scenes and crash our blogs. We know who to blame. We know what we did. And we know we can either reverse what we did or call someone and have them fix it.
But, what happens if someone else does that to us?
What happens if someone hacks our blog?
That’s different as we don’t know what “they” did, nor do we necessarily know how to fix “it”.
Hackers will hack any ‘ole blog, because they can. No blog is exempt. Not mine, not yours, not anyone’s.
When his wife’s online jewelry site was hacked and her monthly sales dropped from $1000 to zero, John Hoff of WP Blog Host made it his mission to learn everything about hackers; how they think, how they hack and most importantly, how to secure a WordPress blog against them. With Lindsey”s site being her “baby”, and her online income helping to support their family, John vowed he would never let that happen again. Not to Lindsey. Not to him. Not to you.
John spent months studying everything he could find. As he learned, he documented his findings.
It is from the knowledge he gained and the lessons John learned, how the “WORDPRESS DEFENDER” ebook was born.
This 150 page guide is like no other. John includes hints, tips, tweaks and plugins we can use to secure out site, all written in an easy to understand language. To make things even easier, he includes 14 step-by-step bonus videos to keep those hackers at bay.
An example of the topics he covers include such things as
- How to easily back up all of your files
- WordPress upgrades and how to deal with them
- Picking, protecting and managing your passwords
- The truth about plugins
- The best form of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to use
- Login lock downs and firewalls
- Writing and using a .htacess file
- How intruders find blogs to hack via search engines
- What a hack might look like
- Plus much more
Although this security guide and videos will set you back $39, it’s a small price to pay when we consider the alternative.
When I crashed my blogs, I lost a day getting my blog back online. When Lindsey’s blog was hacked, it took John, who knows what he’s doing, nearly a week (in his free time) just to figure out where the hack was located. From there, he recreated the site, but before it could be reactivated, he also needed to reload all of the products onto the newly rebuilt site. In the meantime, Lindsey’s page rank plummeted to zero, as did her sales.
Many of us bloggers prefer not to even think about our blog being hacked, let alone having to learn how to secure it. But as our blogs grow, and our traffic and page rank increases, it becomes imperative we either learn to protect our investment, or hire someone to do it for us.
Like many of you, this is an area I also avoid, but with the “WORDPRESS DEFENDER” in my library, I know my blogs will soon be safe, secure and locked down.
For all the work John has done on the ebook and videos, I’ll be forever grateful.
Thank you, John.
Today’s Assignment
Have you ever crashed or had your blog hacked? If so, how did you get it back up and running?
If not, how do you think you would react?
If you’re not a WordPress blogger, how do you secure your blog?
And finally, how often are you backing up your database and/or files? (You are doing backups, right?)
Care to share?
.
As a final note. When John emailed this book and video series to me, I told him I’d take a look at it, but wouldn’t commit to an endorsement as I feel the best way to find what works for each of us is to be a smart, informed consumer. However, this book and video series far exceeded my expectations. In fact, when I opened it and started reading, I sent John an email which in part said,
HOLY CRAP! [excuse the language]
I was just reading/skimming your ebook. It’s phenomenal, and I haven’t even gotten to the videos.
All I can say is WOW! WOW! WOW!
P.S.S. Although the links to WordPress Defender are affiliate links, I would have no problem endorsing this book for free. For all you WordPress bloggers out there, why not buy the book, use some of the hints and tips to begin securing your blog, sign up to become an affiliate, and write a review on your site. With just a few sales, you will have earned the cost of the book back. How cool is that?
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John Hoff heads up the blog services department and is the Blog Editor for 
Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford & I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation. 
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Since Monday, March 30, 2009 will mark my two year anniversary of blogging, I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned and how some of what we read is not true.
Today’s Lesson
The common myths on blogging:
Yes, writing a post and hitting the “publish” button can be easy, however, there’s more to blogging than just writing. In order to gain exposure and stay current, we’ll often find ourselves engaged in social networking, answering emails, commenting on other blogs, learning coding, and/or performing blog maintenance.
Although most bloggers try to be careful, nearly every blogger will make typos. Keep in mind, words are also spelled differently in other countries and for some bloggers, their first language is not English.
Although a niche site is great for targeted advertising and can become a great “go to” place for a specific topic, success can also be had by mixing it up.
Money can be made with blogging, however the numbers we see the big shooters speaking of are the exception, not the norm. In most cases it has taken the A-list bloggers YEARS to make a six figure income. In truth, most money bloggers make will be from products they sell or promote, speaking engagements and/or jobs they procure as a result of blogging (such as freelance writing, coaching or web design).
Whether we visit our blogging buddies once a month, or once a day, the other blogger will most likely always remember us and stay subscribed.
If the comment is written by an active blogger and the comment links back to a reliable site, in most cases it will NOT mark it as spam.
It’s true, we can learn from the big boys/girls, however copy cat blogs are quite boring. Whether we post product reviews, write 2000 word articles, 7 word haikus, share our favorite photos, write rants or tell our readers all about our children, it’s all okay. It is OUR blog and we are free to use it as we see fit. The most important thing is to stay true to yourself, be an original and build off of that.
A comment on a big name blog will get our name listed in their comment section, but changes are our comment may not even be acknowledged. To build a community and/or relationships with with bloggers, time needs to be spent visiting small to medium size blogs. Unlike the A-list bloggers who have bigger fish to fry, authors of smaller sites are more apt to show their appreciation by reciprocating the visit and subscribing to our blog.
Quality content is what visitors are looking for. Placing advertising on our site will not deter visitors unless it overpowers the message.
Linking to reliable resources shows our readers we’ve done our homework. Instead of leaving our site, they will consider us as an expert and keep coming back for more.
Today’s Assignment
Prior to having a blog, what did you read about blogging that you found out not to be true?
Did that make you question other myths you’ve read?
Care to share?
.
P.S. Come by on Monday and see my new theme and celebrate my second anniversary. There won’t be any cake and ice cream, but there will be lots of surprises.
Photo Credit: smellyknee