You may have been receiving emails from Google letting you know that you need to address the new General Data Protection Regulations that were passed in Europe. You may have like me ignored them because you don’t advertise in Europe. I have read some conflicting information on whether or not you are covered. Most of what I have read has said that if someone from Europe signs up for your newsletter or purchases something on your site you are covered. I decided to address the issues covered.

There are a few things to look at doing. The first is developing a privacy policy. The second is making sure if you have a mailing list you are compliant with the rules. The third is logging in to Google Analytics and setting the time limit for how long Google keeps that data. The last is something you hopefully have already done which is getting an SSL certificate.

Privacy Policy

If you are on WordPress they have made it easy. If you have updated to the newest version of WordPress when you log in you will see information on setting up a Privacy Page and information you need to include on your privacy page. I used that along with a free online template to develop my privacy policy which is now found here. Mine is relatively simple since I collect minimal information. I needed to include information on my mailing list, Google Analytics data collection, contact form, my class information, and any WordPress gathered information. Now I will say right now I did this privacy policy on my own using the tools I have mentioned and I am not a lawyer and no lawyer reviewed this policy.

Mailing List

If you have a mailing list you should make sure it has a double opt-in. A double opt-in means that after the person gives you their email address they get an email confirming the address where they have to click again in order to subscribe. If you use a Mail Chimp service this automatically happens. Many people are also having everyone on their mailing list re-opt in also. I have heard differing information on this. I suspect it is not mandatory. I did do it and I lost about 3/4 of my mailing list by doing so.

You also need to make sure your subscribers have an easy way of unsubscribing. Again if you use a service like Mail Chimp this will be done for you.

Google Analytics

With Google Analytics you should also login to that account and set the time limit for how long Google keeps that data. The default is 26 months but you can reduce it to 14 months or increase it (not advised). It will also stop the reminder emails from Google.

SSL Certificate

If you haven’t done this already you should do this even if you take none of the other steps. It is now an SEO ranking factor also. If you use an online privacy policy creator they will ask you about this. If you want some more information on how I did this click here. 

So each of us has to decide if and how to address this. I am risk averse when it comes to my business so I implemented these steps.

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Installing an SSL Certificate on my Bluehost website

So often when there is new technology I procrastinate moving along to the next step. One of the areas I have done that is with installing an SSL certificate on my websites. It just seemed too hard and maybe not necessary. In a group I am in one of the website guru masters has been insisting that SSL certificates are a must for SEO in 2017. Well, I cannot call myself an SEO guru if I myself do not keep up with such things so this past week I have moved forward with it. And you know what it was not too hard.

I have Bluehost as my hosting company so I am speaking particularly of them. Just to disclose I have an affiliate relationship with them and links to their site may be an affiliate link which means if you buy something I get a bit of money. No other links are affiliates in this blog post.

So doing this with Bluehost was both free and relatively painless. I went to the Control Panel and found this section. See Free there! So then it was just a few clicks to get it installed on my site. Once you finish that it can take a few hours for everything to go through the system. You will know it is done if you type in https:// before your URL and your site shows up. In the meantime, I downloaded the Real Simple SSL plugin. I added the Pro Version currently $25 for one site and $59 for up to 5 sites. I am not sure that I needed the Pro Version in hindsight but when reading the directions it said I need to look at the code and check on a few things and the Pro Version did that for me. None of it was a problem so I probably could have gotten away with the free version but the cost was reasonable enough and I hate worrying.

Once you activate the Real Simple Plugin on your site (follow these instructions for Pro) it automatically will find the certificate and make it all work together. You will then get a link telling you to go to your Google Analytics and Webmaster accounts to add the new domain name to your accounts. Those easy instructions are found here.

And then you are done and will have a secure site so that people typing in your URL won’t see messages saying your site is not secure.

My website guru master was correct and it is worth doing.

I Hate Technology-Five Things I Have Learned About Websites This Week

Not really but I sure hate it when it isn’t working properly. I am not sure what planet is in retrograde now but I have been struggling for the last week with website issues. Some things I have learned.

1. Don’t rush to try and fix it. Some things just self heal. Self heal is the definition in my house of things that are broken then they are not for no know reason. Several times I was having some glitches that probably should have been left alone and they would have self healed. This morning my email through Bluehost was not working. I patiently waited for their online chat person and by the time she was testing the emails they worked again. I felt a bit stupid and like I had wasted my time. At least I didn’t mess anything up by acting quickly.
2. Sometimes you need professional help. I was having such issues with my websites last week that I could no longer access my WordPress login page. That was the point I turned to a professional. She was able to fix things for me. Part of the problem was when I tried to fix it via my Bluehost back up that it restored a corrupted back up file. How that happens is beyond me but I have heard of others with this issues before so I know it happens.
3. More back up is better back up. Many of you know that I sign the praises of my Updraft Back Up Plugin. I still love this plugin but when you have no login screen you can’t access that back-up so I found that Bluehost, my web host also had a back up of my files. And for $3 bucks a month (and you can’t just sign up for one month) you can restore just the files you want. If it had solved my problem that money would have been less than what I paid the professional to clean it up. Just remember if one back up fails you may have another.
4. Back-up files can be corrupted. I certainly did not know this but what I learned is that if you restore from the back-up and it still is not working then move to an even earlier backup and see if that works. I was able to do that in one case.
5. Clear your Internet cache when there are problems and you can also clear your modem cache. I did know to clear my browser cache when I was having some challenges with the sites loading on my computer. However, I learned from my professional that your modem also has a cache and you may need to clear that also. When I tried to do that by unplugging it and then plugging it back in at her suggestions that did not work. So I called my internet provider and they did a reset and he told me to press the reset button on my modem and hold it for 3 seconds. When this issue occurred again (refer back to some planetary retrogrades) I did this and it worked.

So just remember that everyone throws their hands up in regards to technology sometimes and that it may be better to take a break then act. It can never hurt to take a few deep breathes before diving back in again.
Photo Copyright: siiixth / 123RF Stock Photo

Full Affiliate disclosures: I only recommend companies/articles that I am currently using or have thoroughly researched. I do receive compensation if you click through an affiliate links and sign up. My detailed Affiliate Statement is found here. In this post Bluehost, and Updraft are affiliate links.