Ransomware has been the biggest threat for the past 2-3 years and we can’t afford to take network security lightly. Your workplace is filled with increasing numbers of applications, devices, and platforms that are rife for potential security threats.

Of course, ransomware is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cyber threats, We all need to be on the alert for spear phishing, spam, data loss, whaling attacks, and many more types of threats. The vulnerability to a security breach has increased exponentially and a business’ viability depends on this issue being addressed.

This concise checklist of security measures will help keep your business network and your data intact and secure.

6 Ways To Protect Your Business Network

1# Implement Frontline Defense

The critical first step is to prevent threats from crawling in by making sure your firewall and anti-virus software are installed.

When it comes to the firewall, choosing the right size and scope that coordinates with your business goals is essential. Without a strong firewall, you’ll be a weak target who is handing out opportunities to hackers.

Install a firewall that will help to lock down the ports that hackers use to invade your business and exploit your data.

Make sure that you are running an antivirus software program on your server; essential in today’s environment. This software will help rid your system of adware, malware. Without it, you will run the risk of a virus spreading throughout the server. By investing in anti-virus software we can:

• Preemptively notice malicious programs and prevent them from being installed
• Deter hackers from breaching your network

Unfortunately, employees don’t always adhere to safe computing practices. This software on the server will help mitigate and limit the damage from any virus introduced from your side.

Get an extra layer of protection by using SEO proxies. They generally act as a middleman; a connection between the internet and your computer. Any kind of action taken on your data or information is not sent directly to the internet, but first sent to the proxy server which forwards the request to the web.

The proxy then serves as the middleman again, receiving the data before returning it to you. The proxy server hides your IP address; your company’s online activity is anonymous and more secure.

2#  Invest in a VPN

Once a firewall and antivirus software program are in place, the crucial second step is setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

A VPN encrypts your network and accesses the internet through a tunnel that hides your activity and data from anyone. This will ensure online privacy for all your users by blocking your activities, data, browsing history, and much more from hackers.

The VPN setup comes in handy when your employees frequently travel or work remotely. As there are many remote access risks that a VPN helps to diminish, it’s a good investment.

Read: Privacy Matters: The Best VPN Service

3#  Training Your Employees

• The prevalent security issue is that 43% of businesses’ data is lost due to a cybersecurity incident.
• Altogether, 37% of businesses have experienced one phishing attack and out of that number, 17% have suffered from a DDoS attack with 20% reporting  ransomware worldwide.
• Data breaches were reported by 59% of businesses due to untrained and uninformed employees.

The above data was provided by a study conducted by Kaspersky on more than 4,000 businesses from 25 countries. These issues occurred through the end-user being uninformed or careless.

Businesses’ should regulate training sessions to review IT best security practices. Cultivate a culture of cybersecurity awareness among your employees. The more your employees are informed and educated on network security, the safer your organization.

4# Plan To Backup Your Data

Businesses can be under attack at any given moment and your data stolen. The best possible way to manage this risk is to install a data protection solution.

With the help of data protection, if your network security is breached, you’ll be able to avoid data loss. Of all businesses struck by ransomware, 49% were not able to recover their lost data.

If you were in such a situation, there would be only one thing that could protect you. Constantly back up your data. For optimal protection, we advise you to back up your data every single day or at least every week. It is preferable to store the data offsite at a fireproof, flood proof, locked facility.

5# A Data Recovery Plan

A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is built to safeguard or prevent damages and network breaches of your data. Backing up data is just one part of a larger DRP.

A DRP should be created for different kinds of attacks and disasters. A mid-level manager or IT manager should take on the responsibility to create, store, and retrieve data during emergencies. Test run your plan on a regular basis to ensure it’s sound and effective.

6# A Secure Router

A secure router is an essential tool. A security breach or any other security problems can arise by simply hitting the restart button on your network router.

It is best to relocate your router to a more secure location if it is in an open or common location in your office. Move it to a locked room or closet.

To be more careful, we can go a step further by investing in video surveillance equipment and installing it in your server or network router room.

It is equally important to set a complex password combination that contains at least 15 characters and update them regularly.

Safe Network, Safe Business

These security breaches in your network occur when a business doesn’t even cover the fundamental security protocols. Try to invest in proper network security practices for your business.

Keep your business, your clients, and your team members safe on the internet. Cut the cybersecurity risks ahead of time.

You May Like To Read:

• How Technology Services Protect Themselves From Digital Risks Today
• 4 Ways Businesses Can Protect Their Cloud Servers
• Protect Your Privacy And Purchases With A VPN

Author:

Dan Martin has hands-on experience in digital marketing since 2007. He has been building teams and coaching others to foster innovation and solve real-time problems. Dan also enjoys photography and traveling.

The post 6 Ways to Protect Your Business’ Network appeared first on Fincyte.

Good graphic design is an essential tool that makes company websites deliver the best results. If you’re planning to invest in it, you need to make sure it draws many potential customers.

But then, poor graphic design can affect your SEO and website in several ways, as you’ll learn in this article. Here are some of them.

8 Ways Poor Graphic Design Impact SEO

1.  A Negative First Impression

Your website needs to make a good first impression if you’re to increase conversions and revenue. According to experts, everyone has 30 seconds to make an impression. How well you use your 30 seconds will determine the results you’ll get from your SEO and website.

Being a visual aspect, you should make it impress your customers the first time they see it. Most visitors will click away if they do not immediately like what they see.

Consequently, that will increase your bounce rate and reduce your revenues. It will also affect your SEO and lower your rankings on SERPs.

2.  Poor Customer Conversion and Engagement

Customers will find what they’re looking for on your site quicker if your graphic design is on point. Besides, the better you place items on your site, the quicker customers will decide on whether they need them or not. It is vital to design your site with careful thought and consideration of customers.

Redesigning your website is a potential solution to poor conversions from your visitors. You can create a mock-up and see how easy it is for customers to find products on your website. A proper initial design should be sufficient for you if you do not have much time to test your website constantly.

3.  Longer Website Load Times

Poor graphic design can affect how fast your website loads. Websites that take too long to load often tempt visitors to click away from them because of poor experiences. Experts warn that you risk losing more than half of your website visitors if your website takes 3 or more seconds to load.

In many cases, your website will load fast if you optimize your graphic design. You should avoid overusing graphics in your website pages and also compress them when possible. Failure to optimize graphics can affect your SEO and significantly contribute to lowering rankings on SERPs.

4.  Unfriendly Website for Your Visitors

Internet users prefer interacting with easily navigable websites. The information on your site needs to look organized and not overcrowded to ensure the best user experiences.

A simple navigation structure isn’t easy to achieve so long as you hire the right graphic designer to do the job for you.

You can also optimize your site without hiring a professional if your budget is too low. There’re many laptops for graphic designers that you can invest in and start designing your graphics. But then, you may need help with some of the technical aspects of graphic designing to achieve the results you desire.

5.  Poor Mobile Responsiveness

Your website won’t give you the results you expect if you don’t make it for mobile. Many website owners are making their websites for users with small devices.

Thus, you risk losing out if you make your website exclusively for users viewing it on larger screens than what mobile devices offer.

Good graphic design makes websites more responsive to mobile devices. It would be best if you considered using imagery and videos only where necessary.

Besides, it would help if you optimized them to show on mobile device screens correctly. You’ll lose your website visitors and negatively impact your SEO and rankings if your site isn’t mobile-friendly.

6.  Difficult to Read Fonts

Fonts affect how you deliver your message and convince readers. The readability of text on your site affects your ability to convince a reader to take the desired actions. Fonts are a vital element of graphic design, as any professional designer will tell you.

Good graphic design involves using easily readable fonts that won’t stress your visitors. Consider every attention-drawing element that will attract your readers and include it in your images.

It would be best if you also remembered to match them with the font on the text. That will improve your SEO and make you rank higher.

7.  It Shows Poor Professionalism

Prospective customers will leave your website if it doesn’t look professional. You may be wondering what adds up to professionalism on a website. A professional website looks organized and uses graphics accurately to enhance user experiences and attract higher search engine rankings.

As a website owner, designing your website professionally should be in your mind. Ensure you use proper imagery that represents the products or services you offer your clients.

Your SEO score will be poor if you do not design your site professionally. That will also impact your performance on the highly competitive search engine rankings.

8.  Makes Your Site Untrustworthy

Your website visitors need to trust you if you’re to get the desired results. One of the best ways to make your website look trustworthy is to do proper graphic design. Many people will trust your website if there’s the proper use of imagery and other graphic elements.

Besides, good graphics are costly to have on a website. Website visitors will regard your website highly if they think you’ve invested a lot in it. That will make them trust you and the products or services you offer. Consequently, your SEO will reap more benefits, and you will advance on SERPs.

Conclusion

It would help if you considered having proper graphics on your website for many reasons. Poor graphics negatively impact your SEO and SERPs rankings. You can hire a good graphic designer to help you create the website you desire or DIY.

In the end, a well-designed, professional and trustworthy website is all you need to make more profits.

Read Also:

• 10 Free Online Graphic Design Software
• Top 11 Impressive Graphic Design Trends For Branding Your Business
• How To Choose The Right Graphic Designer For Your Business

Author: Dan Martin

The post How Can Poor Graphic Design Impact SEO? appeared first on Fincyte.

You probably received tons of RFPs from other companies. Responding can be time-consuming, depending on the complexity of the document. It helps to have the right tools to write a winning RFP response.

But, what if you need to write a B2B SaaS digital marketing RFP?  The thought is enough to send a shiver down your back, right? Yes, the process can be challenging, but don’t fret.

Our article will break down the process for you. Eventually, you should be able to handle the task like a pro. Let’s get into it.

What is a B2B SaaS Digital Marketing RFP?

You have probably had to deal with potential buyers. When they are looking for suppliers, they send out RFP documents. A request for proposal (RFP) shows a company’s capability to handle a project.

In the documents, they ask suppliers to showcase why they would be the best for the job. It seeks information on technical and financial abilities.

 A proper RFP document has particular sections. Such include:-

• • • An executive summary
    • Business goals
    • Project implementation plan and schedule
    • Contract management
    • Evaluation criteria
    • Case studies
    • Customer references
    • Bidding process
    • Contract terms

Incorporating all the above into one document can be difficult. You must also have a good understanding of the budget to get it right. Let’s break down the process of writing a B2B SaaS digital marketing RFP.

8 Steps to Writing a B2B SaaS Digital Marketing RFP

1. Background information

Whoever will be responding to the RFP needs to know more about your company. Introduce your company and format the information in a unique way. Focus on different aspects such as:-

• Give information about your company
• Highlight what makes you unique
• Focus on how your products provide value to the end-users
• Show why you need digital marketing for your SaaS products
• Give an overview of the company you hope to work with. Let them know how they could be a good fit for your organization.
• Talk about the goals you hope to achieve with the digital marketing
• Touch on timelines and scope of work
• Mention any other information that can give some background information.

This part of the RFP is an introduction and synopsis of the project. It also informs the respondents of exactly what you’re looking for.

2. Outline the Goals of the RFP

Your primary goal is to find A B2B SaaS Digital Marketing partner. They must, however, be aware of what you hope to achieve in more detail.

Even from the position of a client, your goals must be SMART. Keep them simple, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.

Are you looking to increase revenue or brand awareness? Are you looking for leads generation?  You are in the best position to determine what your goals are.  Clearly highlight them in the RFP.

For each goal, make sure you have a timeline for it. With clear goals, you can determine how you hope to achieve them. It could be through email or social media marketing. You may require a leads generation campaign. 

3. Highlight Any Market Research You Have Done

The digital marketing company should ideally have its own research. But, as the SaaS provider, you must have your own. By understanding the market, you can be more realistic about your demands. Pertinent information includes:-

• The market situation
• The challenges you are facing – such could include a lack of awareness. You may also have an inability to attract and convert leads.
• What you hope to improve
• Competitor analysis and how you rank against them
• Existing company practices

 The digital marketing team will also need information like:-

• Do you have any digital marketing currently in place?
• What is the composition of your team?
• How do you manage internal and external resources?
• What is your operational approach?
• What other marketing companies do you have onboard?
• How will the digital marketing agency integrate with the existing structure?

4. Outline the Scope of Work

Provide as much detail as you can about the scope of work. It forms the KPI by which you will measure the performance of the digital marketing partner. It also helps with timing, budgeting, and resource allocation.

5. Budgeting and Timeline

You may choose to share your budget. Some clients prefer to have face-to-face discussions based on the RFP response. The former makes it easier because everything is clear from the beginning.

You can easily remove companies that do not fall within your budget. Suppliers will also not waste time if they feel they cannot work with what you have.

The same case applies to timelines. Remember, your goals are time-bound. Have short-term and long-term goals and timelines to guide the campaigns.

6. Selection Criteria

Advice on the things you will be looking for when determining a successful respondent. Such include skill level, pricing, and experience. If you are assigning points, share them in the RFP as well.

7. Terms and conditions

Get the input of the legal department to add any terms and conditions to the document. You should also factor in supplier notations and amendments

8. Additional Information

Additional information to include are:-

• Timelines with regards to responding to the RFP
• When respondents can expect feedback
• How they will receive communication
• What factors can disqualify them
• Final presentations
• Vendor selection process
• Q and A
• Any additional information you may require

Final Thoughts

We have looked at the selling points you need to have in mind when writing a B2B SaaS Digital Marketing RFP. The process can be challenging, but you must get it right.

The digital agency must show relevant expertise in handling SaaS products. They must also have a good understanding of communicating with B2B companies.

Take advantage of free templates to make the process easier for you. You can then customize them as you wish as per your needs. Finding a digital marketing team can be very frustrating if you do not have a good RFP. Use our outline above to create yours.

Read Also:

• How to Write a Successful Grant Proposal for Small Business
• How to Write a Standout Marketing Email?
• Tips on How to Write a Competitive Analysis Report

Author Bio:

Dan Martin has hands-on experience in digital marketing since 2007. He has been building teams and coaching others to foster innovation and solve real-time problems. Dan also enjoys photography and traveling.

The post How To Write a Winning B2B SaaS Digital Marketing RFP appeared first on Fincyte.