'Net Features : 1and1

Taking Security to the Next Level

Administrator — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:45:00 GMT

:: By Kelly Meeneghan, 1&1 Internet

With such a heavy reliance on the Internet, online security should be one of the top priorities for both website owners and their visitors. According to a recent study conducted by 1&1 Internet, Inc., more than half of the participants (67%) confirmed that they, or someone they know, have had their personal information lost or stolen as a result of doing business online. As a website professional, it is imperative that all aspects of your work provide a secure environment for both yourself as well as website visitors. Neglecting to exercise significant measures to ensure Web safety can result in extremely damaging losses of information and in turn, credibility. Understanding these priorities, Web hosts put in place security measures to ensure safe and reliable online operations.

1) Redundant Web hosting

Redundant Web hosting has become a staple in many online hosting solutions. Mirroring data on at least two separate servers have proven to be a strategic solution towards preventing downtime, which is always an inevitable risk. Taking it a step further, hosting providers have introduced more complex redundancy procedures like Dual Hosting. Such technology hosts your site and data on two different server clusters in separate physical locations creating a form of ‘geo-redundancy.’ Due to this added layer of security, if one data center experiences any kind of disturbance, your information will automatically be switched to the other location to remain accessible. While necessary maintenance takes place on the interrupted server, there is zero disruption on your website and your visitors online experience.

2) Security Scans

Even though you may think your site is immune to malicious activity, simple mistakes like a misspelling when entering code or forgetting to close a parenthesis can leave your online representation vulnerable to potential hackers. Such infections can not only affect a website’s function, but could also potentially harm visitors to the website and damage your online brand. As this risk can occur at any time, often without your knowledge, security tools like SiteLock allow you to continually inspect your site for any suspicious or dangerous behavior. Among a list of benefits, SiteLock conducts website application scans, SQL injection scans and cross site scripting (XSS) scans across multiple website pages. These valuable scans will detect if the website has been intruded, evaluate the need for upgrades to third party applications, identify the potential for data breaches and provide any necessary steps needed for users to regain maximum security of their website immediately.

3) Secure Data Transports

When working with online transactions, businesses should seriously consider obtaining a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate which is a security protocol that encrypts your site to ensure secure transactions, data transfers and logins. An SSL certificate will provide for a safe flow of information between your Web server and browser, guaranteeing message integrity. By obtaining your SSL certificate, you will be able to visibly show visitors how safe your site is. Activating the lock icon in the browser as well as displaying a “Smart Seal” will help your site illustrate a more secure online representation as compared to competitors and increase consumer’s trust in your business.

4) Recovery Tools

It is inevitable that businesses will experience human error. Web professionals should be prepared should they encounter an experience such as realizing you have overwritten important data or exited without saving. These errors cost valuable time and effort that most individuals have little to spare. Web hosts implement tools such as 1&1’s Webspace Recovery Tool which allows for the recovery of up to six days of data entry, making information restoration a painless process. Take the extra step of prevention to avoid wasting valuable time in a frustrating situation.

Online security is an essential aspect for the success of any Web professional and their visitors. By utilizing these steps and mentioned tools, you will give your online work the opportunity to go beyond these hesitations and instill peace of mind for all online viewers.

Americans Won’t Forgive a Faulty Website

Allison Howen — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:11:00 GMT

Even in the year 2012, many Americans still have a lot of complaints about websites –including frustrations with slow loading sites, broken pages and glitches in online order processes.

According to recent research by 1&1 Internet, Inc., 65 percent of US Web users feel that they are regularly inconvenienced by faulty websites, while 68 percent say that they are more critical toward website errors today than they were five years ago.

The study reveals that America’s top five common website faults are slow running websites (65 percent), significant differences in Web page loading times (58 percent), broken website pages (42 percent), Web addresses that lead nowhere (34 percent) and online orders that are not processed (32 percent).

These types of errors have resulted in more than 58 percent of consumers deciding not to use a company again as a result of its website. Furthermore, frustrations with a website have led 72 percent of Web users to abandon a company website for a competitor’s. Additionally, although most website owners aim to schedule maintenance and upgrades during down times, it appears this still bothers consumers – with 28 percent claiming to regularly feel inconvenienced by this problem.

Surprisingly, 49 percent of respondents believe that websites for small and large companies are equivalent in terms of the frequency of errors, while almost half of respondents (42 percent) report that they regularly feel anger, worry or stress as a result of using a faulty website. However, the most troublesome statistics is that 58 percent of consumers have doubted whether one of their own online transactions was completed properly.

“Unreliable websites continue to reflect badly upon businesses of all types and sizes,” says Oliver Mauss, CEO 1&1 Internet, inc. “It is clear that when faced with a faulty or off-line website, consumers will turn elsewhere. Perhaps more surprising is the proportion that will be unwilling to return. With this in mind, businesses must ensure their websites are well designed, have robust functionality, and benefit from the most reliable Web hosting infrastructure available to them.”

For example, 1&1 Web hosting uses geo-redundancy to help enhance the reliability of websites. All data and processes are mirrored and operated synchronously in different data centers, so that of there is an unexpected problem, such as an electricity failure, all upcoming processes are automatically taken over by the other data center. Additionally, 1&1 has the ability to carry out updates and planned maintenance work without any disturbance to servers or inconvenience to customers.

Double the Security at 1&1

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

If you’re concerned about your website’s availability – pay attention to this. Web hosting provider 1&1 Internet, is offering up a redundant service technology for its pro-level packages and the price is going to shock you (in a good way).

With a backup server in a different location, websites hosted at 1&1 are guaranteed to have maximum availability of 99.99%. All data and applications are mirrored so websites are more dependable than ever before. For this advancement, 1&1 has improved its Web hosting portfolio and is introducing new and innovative 1&1 Dual Hosting packages. Prices start at $2.99 with an upfront, 3-year billing term. The 1&1 Dual Basic package contains 10 GB webspace, 1 domain, 250 e-mail accounts and 10 MySQL database (1 GB each).

"The 1&1 Dual Hosting concept means a new dimension of reliability because every online presence is managed in two different locations in our high performance data center at the same time", says Oliver Mauss, CEO of 1&1 Internet Inc. "Developers, self-employed individuals, and medium-sized businesses can benefit from a professional safeguard that until now only large corporations could afford."

ListLocal from 1&1; Pricey But Practical

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:00:00 GMT

The local search landscape has a new friend in web hosting provider and domain registrar 1&1, which just released a new service in ListLocal that aims to help businesses benefit from local search opportunities on the Web.

ListLocal lets SMBs quickly and easily submit their business information to Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) in order to be included in various online directories, including Google Maps, Yahoo! Local and Bing.

Along with the standard contact details, such as name, address and telephone number, professionals can also include a graphic or logo with their listings and even insert a direct link to the company's homepage.

“The 1&1 ListLocal service reflects just how important it is to optimize online marketing through search engines,” said 1&1 CEO, Oliver Mauss. “Online marketing initiatives are often very successful supplements for establishing brand awareness, particularly to an audience in a specific area or region. For those with both small and large marketing budgets, utilizing multiple search sources, including online directories, will help increase online exposure for SMBs and therefore drive more traffic to their websites. That’s why we see a huge market potential for this service.”

Despite a pretty hefty price tag of $9.99 per month (no setup fee), it’s good to see hosting providers and domain registrars like 1&1 doing their part in building out the local Web.

MyBusiness Site from 1&1 Released

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:05:00 GMT

Hardly anyone (at least that I know) actually codes individual websites anymore. Not to say that it doesn't happen at all, but thanks to the introduction of popular CMS and Weblog software platforms like Drupal or WordPress, it's much less common than it was ten years ago. It's become so standard in fact that you don't need any technical savvy at all, as there are many tools available that aid in the design and development of a website. The latest of these is the 1&1 MyBusiness Site from web host 1&1 (schedule for release today - the site is not active yet).

"Before developing 1&1 MyBusiness Site, we did some very detailed market analysis," explained Oliver Mauss, CEO of 1&1 Internet. "As a result, it was clear that a lot of traditional hosting packages are simply too complicated to fulfill the needs of a great many small business owners." The research Mauss and 1&1 commissioned found that 40 percent of the 1800 small businesses surveyed are still without a company website. Further, 24 percent of companies that do not have a website are interested in creating one, but are concerned that existing offers are too complicated or costly. The most common reason for not having a website are concerns about the time needed to create one (36 percent) and concerns as to whether having a website is necessary for the business.

If you see the value in creating a Web presence but are unsure how or where to get started, this may be a good choice. The service costs $9.99.month with no set-up fees or contract terms, plus one domain name and email acconts are included. There is a free, five-day, no-obligation trial available.