Impact your business and join us for the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs
On Thursday 22nd October, 123-reg will be one of four headline sponsors of the annual Festival for Female Entrepreneurs, held at Colston Hall in Bristol. The event, run and managed by our good friends at Enterprise Nation, will play host to a day of information, education and inspiration that will help SMEs take their business to the next level. What is the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs? The event, run and managed by our good friends at Enterprise Nation, will play host to a day of information, education and inspiration that will help SMEs take their business to the next level. The Festival of Female Entrepreneurs takes place at Colston Hall in Bristol on Thursday 22 October. Access to the exhibition and networking space is completely free. Access to the networking area is £20, which will give you access to keynote talks and practical workshops from the UK’s leading female entrepreneurs and experts. There are only 250 tickets available for the keynotes and workshops so be sure to bag yours before they run out! Harnessing entrepreneurial spirit 123-reg is very proud to support the festival, especially when considering the growing numbers of females involved in start-ups in the UK. A report by the Office for National Statistics showed the number of self-employed women has increased by 34 per cent since 2009. By way of comparison over the past five years, the number of self-employed men has risen by just 15 per cent. Enterprise Nation’s 2014 Home Business Report found that of the 2.9 million homepreneurs in the UK, 64 per cent of them were women – equating to around 1.7 million women running businesses from home, contributing an estimated £180 billion to the British economy alone. What we have on offer The event which will be packed full of educative content aimed directly at SMEs will see 123-reg CMO, Kate Cox, deliver her top tips on how to start small businesses online. Additionally 123-reg SEO specialist, Roxana Stingu, will deliver a 30-minute workshop on the basics of SEO and the top tips for how small businesses looking to increase their rankings online. Additionally, 123-reg will have a presence at the event and will be on hand to help businesses get the answers they need to improve their online presence. For those that attend the event, we will be offering a free .com domain name with a free WordPress hosting or Website Builder package. The event has grown to become a mainstay of the South West’s business event landscape. Last year the event attracted over 700 attendees. For more information and to book your tickets, simply head to https://www.enterprisenation.com/festival So whether you have just set up your business or are looking for inspiration, the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs will have something for you. We look forward to meeting you! Join the social conversation using #FFE15
Interview: Fighting Malware with Anirban Banerjee
2012 continues to be a year of great excitement for 123-reg. We are thrilled to announce the release of Site Scanner, powered by Stop the Hacker. For those not in the know, Site Scanner is a SaaS based malware monitoring tool that scrutinises a user’s website, notifying the customer when malicious code/viruses are found via email and in the 123-reg control panel. Furthermore, the software provides the user information on where the damaging code is located (the line of code it starts and ends on) and provides steps on how to eradicate it. Protecting your online business against malicious code couldn’t be more important in 2012. This year has seen the issue of internet security rise to the front pages of the national newspapers. Whilst events such as the Linkedin security breach are unfortunate, they are helpful in educating the market. 123-reg spoke to Anirban Banerjee, Co-Founder of StopTheHacker Inc., in a bid to help inform website owners of the growing threat of malware and detail how purchasing Site Scanner can give you peace of mind. A blacklisted website can have serious implications for any online business in terms of lost revenue, potential customers and credibility. We asked Banerjee about the threats to 123-reg customers who run websites with little or no malware detection service. ‘Malicious hackers are targeting websites in order to compromise them. If your website gets compromised and is misused to distribute malware to innocent visitors, the infected website is put on a blacklist by Google and other search engines.’ The potentially spiralling affects could be disastrous for your online business as Banerjee explains. ‘If your website is blacklisted, users will be blocked from coming to your website. This could lead to a loss of revenue. Moreover, this could result in an irreparable loss to the reputation of your website and business.’ The threat of being blacklisted by Google is one that is not only very real but one that every website owner needs to protect against. Once malware infects a website, it harms both the company and its customers. Website owners typically have no idea they have been infected, and many do believe that anti-virus protection software is enough. However, it is not. ‘9,500 websites get added to the Google blacklist every single day. Given the UK market is quite big; this represents a substantial number of UK businesses. It takes 7-10 days for a blacklisted website to clean up its act, on average, this process can cost thousands of pounds in lost revenue before even considering the potential revenue lost from your brands’ reputation being tarnished.’ Prevention is better than cure, but having said that, Site Scanner also acts as a quick reaction, something users can take heart from. If malicious code is found on the user’s website at any time, they are sent an email detailing exactly where the code is, and just as importantly, how to delete it. ‘Site Scanner incorporates the best of breed technology when it comes to malware detection, Antivirus engines, signature databases and reputation monitoring. It will help 123-reg customers by providing them with peace of mind. Together, we will help fight the battle for them!’ Central to seeking a partnership, 123-reg looked-for a provider with a real passion for the online security industry. What 123-reg customers should also take from the partnership is Banerjee’s passion for helping people secure their websites as well as the quality of product that his company provides. ‘Our goal is to make website security ubiquitous. Having a secure website and not worrying about hackers installing malware on your site and getting blacklisted shouldn’t be a luxury, everyone should have access to a high quality, reliable and accurate malware detection prevention like Site Scanner.’ Releasing a product like Site Scanner highlights 123-reg’s commitment to helping its customers secure their websites. 123-reg is working with everyone involved with Site Scanner to bring website security to millions of users. Remember, you don’t have to be a high traffic website to be targeted. Even if you see yourself as a small site, you are attractive to hackers because your site will have more vulnerable openings for hackers.
A Collection of Superb 123-reg Memorable Bus Stories
Over the past two weeks you have been telling us your stories and we have been crying with laugher and gasping with shock and we have been so excited for the next story to come in! You have outdone yourselves and we are featuring some of the stories we have enjoyed the most. Remember if you want to be in with a chance of winning the £250 prize as well as featuring on the 123-reg blog make sure you enter your stories over at Facebook.com/123-regfans Here are our favourite stories from the past week: Kay Adeola when I was about 11 I was complaining to my mum that I was hungry when we was on the bus she kept telling me to wait till I got home I was not impressed lol but as we drove in to our town the bus driver stopped said he would be back in a few minutes when he came back he had brought me a lovely cream cake from one of the shops and said he didn’t want me to be sad lol lovely man quite old then and became a family friend he has since passed but I will always remember the kindness he showed me 🙂 Helen Jacob-Lloyd Bus Story Competition – My most memorable bus story is when a lady went into labour on the bus! The bus journey I used to make a lot goes past a hospital, I presume the lady was on route to the hospital, as she was heavily pregnant, but there was a road closure due to a burst gas pipe, so the bus sat at traffic lights and in queues for about 30 minutes longer than the usual length of the journey. This lady was with her partner and started to look like she was in a panic, as did her partner! It soon becomes evident that her waters had broken, as a puddle appeared on the floor. She began being embarrassed and apologising to everyone but as her contractions began to get stronger she soon didn’t care. We were all trying to help, with tissues on the floor, people were offering bottles of water, and painkillers etc but she didn’t want any of it! By this time we were within walking distance of the hospital so her and her partner got off the bus quickly and headed to the hospital! I’ve never seen them again but it sure was an eventful journey! Dawn Costen Oh my goodness most memorable bus journey? It wasn’t a particularly long bus journey maybe 10 minutes tops – but it was a very hot day with a couple of extremely stinky people on it, that I managed to plonk myself right behind and proceeded to try and discreetly turn my head to the side every now and again to get an intake of “fresh” air before holding my breath a little bit longer! As I said it wasn’t a particularly long journey but it felt like THE longest journey ever!! I think it will stick in my mind forever as being the most memorable journey for me – to be honest I don’t think I have been on a bus since!
123-reg Reliability and Value helps to Drive Growth at my1login
Launched in March 2012, Scotland based password manager my1login is making a name for itself as internet users switch onto the critical need to protect their online passwords. The company, which uses 123-reg for domain, hosting and email services, has been making serious strides in the technology sector, with CEO Michael Newman interviewed on the BBC’s online technology section after just a month in business, showcasing the brand’s password management software. So what problem does my1login solve and why is it important? In simple terms, the business offers a solution to users having too many passwords stored in different locations. The company has experienced fantastic traction in their user numbers and is already protecting in excess of 10,000 online accounts. ‘my1login employs military grade encryption, using stronger encryption technology than many online banking platforms. Users’ keys are never stored on the servers and therefore not even my1login employees can see or access users’ data’, Newman said in a recent interview with 123-reg. The incredible start to the business is something that 123-reg is proud to be a part of. Speaking with Newman, it is clear that my1login values the assistance that 123-reg offers his business. ‘We’ve been delighted with both the domain, hosting and email services, together with the responsive support provided when needed most’, he said. In the security industry, reliability issues have to be considered and it is a positive endorsement of our services that such a company chooses 123-reg. ‘Any reliability issues with domain and email provision would have been an obstacle to continued use. 123-reg’s high availability services have ensured this was never an issue’, Newman said. With this is mind, it is no surprise that when asked what services my1login valued the most, reliability was again fundamental to Newman and his team. ‘As an always-on cloud-based password manager it’s vital that my1login are continuously available for our users. The reliability of 123-reg’s email and domain services is of great value in enabling us to provide an uninterrupted service’, he stated. 123-reg prides itself on providing a service that is both price competitive but also gives users control. We are delighted that our philosophy has helped my1login and other customers grow. ‘The speed with which services can be ordered and initialised, the easy-to-use and feature-rich control panel and the competitive pricing model of 123-reg are the perfect ingredients for any business’, Newman concluded. It is our belief that my1login will continue to be successful and we are committed to providing a service that meets the expectations of Newman and his team. It is a wonderful reward for 123-reg to be playing a small part in the success of British entrepreneurs in such challenging times for start-ups. Moreover, the success of my1login should inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. To find out more about my1login please follow the link to their website.
How long does it take for my website to get indexed?
Creating a great website nowadays is child’s play. Getting it indexed by most search engines is where it gets tough. I have a website, now what? Having your website online is not enough. Search engines can take a while to crawl and index your website. You must submit it to their index manually. This way you attract the search engines’ attention to your newly created website. I’ve submitted my website. Nothing happened. If you take into consideration just how many websites are submitted on a daily basis it is understandable why days may have passed without your website featuring in search engine results pages. How can I make the indexing process faster? There are some things you can check/fix in order to make sure your website can be crawled and indexed: Your pages must have a 200/OK server response Make sure you have actual content – although pictures and videos might be perceived as content for your users you also need to have text on your pages. Crawlers can’t see inside videos but they can definitely see the text. Don’t complicate your links – use simple HTML for the links on your pages. Don’t overcomplicate things by using JavaScript based events. Manually submit your website – if you think your website is ready then you can start submitting it to various search engines. Help your website get discovered – try talking about your website on other sites. Keep in mind these need to be relevant to your own website’s topic. Try finding only the quality websites that are both popular and reliable. With just one link placed on such a website you can ensure a faster indexation. My homepage is indexed but my other pages are not You can finally see your homepage listed in a search engine but where are the rest of your pages? There are several possibilities why your website hasn’t been completely indexed: You haven’t properly interlinked your pages – the crawler can’t get to every page of your website. In this case you should change the way your pages are linked to each other. Until you do that you should create a sitemap file that contains all your pages. When the crawler visits your site it will be looking for this file before crawling your website. You accidentally blocked the crawler’s access – you’ve disallowed the access to certain sub-directories from your robots.txt file or added the noindex tag on some of your pages. Check your robots file and see if you added any extra lines. Also check the pages you can’t find in search engines and see if these have the right server response or if they have a noindex tag in their source code. Robots.txt, sitemaps and server responses. I don’t know what does those are! Do not panic if you feel it is getting too technical for you. If none of the above makes any sense then you can simply use a service that will submit your website to search engines. 123-reg has its very own SEO software called Search Engine Optimiser which can help you get indexed. The best part? You don’t need any technical knowledge to use it. What will your software do for my website? Automatic submission It will save you some time by automatically submitting your website to hundreds of search engines – imagine doing that manually, it would take forever. By having your website indexed by so many search engines you will get worldwide exposure. Website improvement You don’t need to know SEO to understand what problems your website might have. The detailed SEO analysis of your website is clear, concise and easy to understand. By fixing your website’s issues you can get better ranks and more traffic. Competitor research See how well your website is doing in search engine results pages compared to your competitors. Personal control panel You don’t need to download or install anything. Your control panel is online which means you can access it from any device and any place. See the full list of Search Engine Optimiser features for more details and please come back and tell us how you think our SEO software can help improve your website’s visibility.