With the use of malware scammers can changes the details you see when you log into your business bank online. There is a simple way to recognise it, the first being that banks never ask for your bank card pin number, if you are at a fraudulent website it will. As a rule of thumb, never disclose your pin number online, even if you think you bank are asking for it. In fact, never disclose you bank card pin number even if your bank ask you over the phone.

There are many different banking scams that are “phishing” for your bank details, so how do you recognise them? Well for a start if it is asking for your pin, you should know something is wrong. Phishing can be done as an email from your bank, which looks very convincing (it has to) usually saying that your bank needs certain information or your account will be frozen (that is one example, but there are many other takes on that). But the most concerning is the use of Malware called Zeus (one example) which will wait until you visit your banks website and direct you to a near identical website which will ask for extra information including your pin number.

Either way, the information you enter will then be sent to a criminals email for them to use your account how they please.

Many banks have come up with ways of keeping your bank details secure from things such as key logging software/malware, which logs the strokes you make on your keyboard. The owner of the key logging software is then able to intercept what you have typed, including any bank details you have entered into banks online.

For small businesses, keeping your bank details safe is vital, so it is best to keep your bank details offline rather than online. Use virus software and make sure you use the rule of thumb of never giving out your pin number.

How alarmed should we be? Well, there has always been bank scams. But the malware has a ways of outsmarting your virus software each time it is update that is why it is important to keep your virus software upto-date (in other words, always make sure you accept those annoying updates).

But many banks such as HSBC, Nat West and Nationwide have taken an effective steps that are still one step ahead of these scams. In fact the care many banks take online probably makes it safer than any other means of using your bank. So do not be alarmed. But as ever do be on your guard.

Watch out for the following

If your transaction is slow
If you are asked for entire passwords or pin numbers.
If you are suspicious phone your bank.
Anything that looks out of place on the website.
Emails asking for urgent information about your bank account.

One of the biggest problems for small businesses is dealing with problems with the bank. Being hit by online fraud is a concern, and with the majority of us catching on to certain scams, the criminals have had to improve what they do. So if you are logging into you business bank account, are you sure you are logged into your bank account or a website pretending to be your bank?

With the use of malware scammers can changes the details you see when you log into your business bank online. There is a simple way to recognise it, the first being that banks never ask for your bank card pin number, if you are at a fraudulent website it will. As a rule of thumb, never disclose your pin number online, even if you think you bank are asking for it. In fact, never disclose you bank card pin number even if your bank ask you over the phone.

There are many different banking scams that are “phishing” for your bank details, so how do you recognise them? Well for a start if it is asking for your pin, you should know something is wrong. Phishing can be done as an email from your bank, which looks very convincing (it has to) usually saying that your bank needs certain information or your account will be frozen (that is one example, but there are many other takes on that). But the most concerning is the use of Malware called Zeus (one example) which will wait until you visit your banks website and direct you to a near identical website which will ask for extra information including your pin number.

Either way, the information you enter will then be sent to a criminals email for them to use your account how they please.

Many banks have come up with ways of keeping your bank details secure from things such as key logging software/malware, which logs the strokes you make on your keyboard. The owner of the key logging software is then able to intercept what you have typed, including any bank details you have entered into banks online.

For small businesses, keeping your bank details safe is vital, so it is best to keep your bank details offline rather than online. Use virus software and make sure you use the rule of thumb of never giving out your pin number.

How alarmed should we be? Well, there has always been bank scams. But the malware has a ways of outsmarting your virus software each time it is update that is why it is important to keep your virus software upto-date (in other words, always make sure you accept those annoying updates).

But many banks such as HSBC, Nat West and Nationwide have taken an effective steps that are still one step ahead of these scams. In fact the care many banks take online probably makes it safer than any other means of using your bank. So do not be alarmed. But as ever do be on your guard.

Watch out for the following

• If your transaction is slow
• If you are asked for entire passwords or pin numbers.
• If you are suspicious phone your bank.
• Anything that looks out of place on the website.
• Emails asking for urgent information about your bank account.

As ever we are always pleased to increase business for any small business website designs we do and we are pleased that after a short period of time we have managed to get Hair Loss Leeds onto the first page of Google for their preferred search term Hair Loss Leeds after only a few months of work.

Our initial Search Engine Optimisation that is carried out by all of our small business website designers when taken with our monthly Service Plans, not only benefit from lower set-up costs, but the personal touch when it comes to business website design and Google Search Engine Optimisation.

Website Design in Bradford & Leeds Success in Google SEO

This has been demonstrated with our expert advice and initial work on the on page Search Engine Optimisation when the business website was designed and work on the back of house optimisation known as our META Search Engine Optimisation.

Hair Loss Leeds had expert advice from the moment the business was set-up, we helped with the selection of the domain name and other such things to maximise the opportunities to generate business online. Not only that, our small business website designers have been on hand to monitor the progress and with the use of updates provided free on our monthly Service Plans, make tweaks where needed to the website to make sure it is making the most of it’s potential.

Hair Loss Leeds Benefit from our business website design & SEO advice

Being first page on Google for any service in any major City, is full of competition, so it is no small achievement to get the Hair Loss Leeds on the first page of Google for the most popular search term for Hair Loss businesses in the City.

It is even more challenging to get a new business website on to the first page of Google, than it is to get an established business website to the first page of Google. This is because the age of a website and the domain, as well as exisiting links from other business or related websites grow with time. So in effect established small business websites by default should have an advantage over newly registered domains and websites.

But our small business website designers have a great track record of getting businesses to the first page of Google because the business website benefits from someone with their finger on the pulse when it comes to search engine optimisation rather than just being website designers.

Choose a Service Plan for regular support from our small business website designers

So if you want to save money on the initial set-up charges for a small business website and you want to benefit from the expert advice and skills Easybiz have in abundance with our small business website designers, you should consider choosing a website design package with us that includes one of our 24 month contract Service Plans that include SEO, web hosting and a number of other useful tools to make sure your business website stays ahead of your competition on Google.

In this episode we take a look at online christmas shopping and give tips to people with e-commerce business websites and eBay sellers about getting the best from their products online. Including how best to list things and what to watch out for that might be causing you to lose sales.

We have a round up of the business internet news and also have a feature on Getting Your Business to the Top of Google. As well as a look at giving social networking for businesses the personal touch there are plenty of reasons to download the new business website design podcast.

Oh and did we mention that you can also win £30 for Google Adwords?

Listen on Podomatic

Order a website before December 15th and you will save 25% on the set-up fee if you are happy to wait until the 3oth January for your website launch.

The normal wait time is 4 weeks, but due to the Christmas holidays things take longer. Because of this we thought it would be a nice touch to pass on some savings to you.

Call us on 01274 792006 If you would like a business website design.

All you have to do is submit us a question via Facebook, right here by making a comment. And the best question will win £30 credit for Google Advertising. To use the voucher you do not have to spend x amount to get it, it is real credit with no catches. Great for giving you business a good chance of getting found on Google in the run up to Christmas.

The closing date is 9th December, and you can ask as many questions as you want. Ask us anything about your business website and the internet, whether you need advice about Google, getting more visitors, improving the look of your website or advice on Social Networking. All questions are welcome. Those questions will be answered on the Podcast, out on 12th December.

It is always a surprise to me how many myths there are about business website design, or more to the point business websites. Below are some example of these myths that I will debunk. Listen to our podcast for more similar tips.

1.       Build it and they will come.

The biggest myth of all. It started from the Film “Field Of Dreams” and has been repeated many times, even on the Morrisons Christmas advert by Freddy Flintoff. It is the biggest load of tosh uttered by anybody when it comes to having a business website.

When you went into business did you just set it up, do nothing and wait for people to come? No. Well why should this logic be applied to websites. You will have to invest a lot of time and effort into getting your website bringing home the bacon. Just like with anything else.

If you do not have the time, pay an expert to look after this side of things for you. And this is an expert in business website design and promoting your websites. Remember Myth 6, your IT guys are ok for adding content, but not for optimising it for Google or designing new parts to your website.

2.       I can save money by getting a friend to create it.

Apply any of these to this – my uncle, nephew, dad, mum, son, daughter. This is your business and you are seriously considering letting somebody without business expertise loose on something that is going to be the first impression many have of your business. The thing that when you have talked to a potential customer, they are going to look at before doing business with you – just to check up and make sure you are as good as you make yourself out to be.

You have just made one of the most common, and costly errors you can in business with the decline of offline directories such as Yellow Pages. Not only do people find you on the internet and decide whether to call you based on how professional you look, yes look. It matters not what your content says about how great your business is, if the person who designed your website did not know how to design a website that would have the right information in the right place, and look professional.

And if you think you have clinched a sale, or you are confident of getting that contract you are chasing. Beware, they will be checking up on you just to make sure you are what you make your business out to be. If you website looks like it has been designed by a 16 year old or is a free template website – that tells them all they need to know about what to expect from your business. Even if you are the best in the world at what you do.

3.       I get loads of hits, that means my website is working

The word “hits” is misleading. That is calculated for every page impression. By that, when the same person navigates from page to page, it is classed as a hit. It is also classed as a hit if they have a problem with the loading of the content on your page and press F5 to refresh the page. Hits are very misleading and they should say “hits are vanity, unique visitors are sanity”.

But even if you are getting lots of unique visitors to your business website – if you are not converting them, it is a sign of failure somewhere. Your website might be putting people off – and that is criminal. You might have people beating the door to your business down, yet you have fluffed it big style because you cut corners on your website and people hit the back button because they did not trust you.

It can also mean that people are searching for something else, and your website is doing well on Google somewhere that has a double meaning. For example if you type “carpenters” into Google, you will have some varied results. If you website has not been optimised or has been badly optimised it could well mean there is a link on Google that simply says “carpenters” and people are clicking on it. Well you get the idea.

4.       My business website is part of my advertising budget.

No, your website is your shop window. And care and consideration should be taken to make sure the content is up-to-date and that the design is too. It costs nowhere near as much as having a complete refit of a shop to modernise your website, but all the same, your website should not be sharing the advertising budget. Because if people know who you are, they will check up on you on Google and hope to see a professional looking website which reflects what they expect to see when dealing with a professional outfit.

If you have not dedicated enough of your budget to your website – and still think it is part of your advertising budget, you might as well just send out a bunch of flyers telling people how great you are followed by a bunch of flyers saying “ignore the last flyer – we are rubbish”.  Because that is what a poor business website design will be doing for you. It is not advertising, it is the first or last impression a person will take of your business.

5.       Just making up testimonials is ok because who can tell the difference

Yeah, yeah. Treat your potential clients like mugs, that will really impress them. People are very savvy at sussing out frauds nowadays, we see them all the time and the first thing we usually do is think that the people are fly by nights.

If you are a new business, make the effort to get real testimonials from any business you do, or from people you have done “free work” for. At the end of the day, make sure the testimonials contain info that will give people an idea of where to look to see if they are genuine or not.

It is great to have testimonials on your website. It is not a deal breaker if you do not have any, but people do not like being treated like fools, so is most certainly a deal breaker if you lie to people.

6.        My IT guys are the right people to design a website

Your IT experts can deal with a certain amount of work. But business website design means having a number of skills that go beyond the scope of your tech guys. In the world of website design there are many differences between the person who designs the website and those that develop it, some web designers can do both. But just because somebody can do all the “technical stuff” does not mean they understand business, or design, or marketing, or search engine optimisation.

Choose a website design company that has specialist business website designers who will take care of all aspects of your website in one place, so you are leaving nothing to chance. Otherwise you will need to find a website designer, a website developer, a graphic designer, a search engine optimisation specialist and a marketing expert. The best thing to do is to find an all-in-one business website designers that tick all of the boxes for you. That is the most affordable way. But leaving it to the IT guy is simply cutting corners which will be costing your business, even if you cannot physically see what you are losing.

7.       My website is not bringing in new business it must be rubbish

Well maybe, but if you have gone about everything in the right way then this is probably not the case. So lets assume for a moment you have chosen a great business website design company but your website is still not bringing in new business, it probably is not the website.

Many SEO companies will give you instructions on how to get your business to the first page of Google. Are you doing all you should be doing? Have you tinkered with the website adding more information where an expert has told you to leave it alone? Have you not bothered with your blog or adding new content?

Have you used any Search Engine Optimisation for your website? If it cannot be found, it does not matter how good it looks, or how well it gets the information across.

Finally are you judging how well your business is doing by how many people ask for you via your online contact form or email? Usually people will call the number they find on the website, so if you are not checking on every call, you might be being a little harsh on your website.

8.       If I add a forum it will attract lots of people.

If you add a form it will either only have the posts you have made on it, or just get overrun with spam comments. Message Forums take a lot of time and effort, and money to get going. You have to offer something that has a niche and that nobody else is really offering. People are quite loyal to the forums they use. So to move them away takes a lot of doing.

A message forum is one of the hardest things to get working, because there are so many things to balance. Especially today as we want information now, we do not like waiting more than a few minutes for a reply on a forum. In order to post in the first place, we have to see that the forum is already busy (that is how we work out if we are likely to get a fast reply).

It is a classic catch 22, you need people posting to satisfy the quick need for replies. You need lots of posters for good content for search engines. But nobody will post unless there is already lots of content and regular posts, as well as many users.

So if you are thinking adding a message forum to your website is the magic answer to getting lots of people using your website – I would advise searching for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Much less effort and about the same results in the overwhelming majority of cases with message forums.

9.       I can “do” a business website for next to nothing

Ever heard the saying “you get what you pay for”? Well that pretty much sums up everything I have to say on the matter. What is your line of business? Do you think any Tom, Dick and Harry can do as good a job as you. Are there a lot of those small details you really should know before making an attempt.

Can a mistake be costly to your reputation and lose you money. Well if you do not really know what you are doing, you are best leaving it to an expert who does. And yes, it will cost more than £100 if you want it done properly.

10.   My business is too small to need a website.

It could be argued that the opposite is true. After all, if Virgin did not have a website would people stop flying using Virgin Atlantic? No probably not. But you are relying on Yellow Pages for your business and the ever unreliable “word of mouth”. If you have found business slow in recent years you might be mistaken in thinking it is all down to the economic situation. But that is a very convenient excuse for those businesses that have chosen to do everything the same as before it began.

At about the time this happened, the last nails were being put into the coffin of offline directories. So much so, that even JR Hartley is now Day V Lately in the rebranded Yell.com adverts (notice they do not advertise the telephone directory anymore). Why, because everybody is using Google.

So if you are too small to have a website – your only going to find you are on a downwards trend for business as people can access services by simply opening a laptop, looking at their mobile phone, without the need to go home to find the answers.

No business is too small to have a website. A business website is standard for all businesses if they want to compete on a level playing field with their competitors.

The first episode we have considered to be a pilot and we will be making a few changes for the December Podcast, where we are still wanting businesses to contact us and get their name heard on the podcast as well as any links to their websites.

When you do listen to it on either iTunes or Podomatic, please remember to take a second to leave a review. It all helps us know how many people are listening.

To subscribe to the Easybiz Pod via iTunes

To listen on Podomatic

You can also download the podcast at the bottom of the page on Podomatic. But do remember to leave us feedback.

If you have any questions you would like answering in it about Google Search Engine Optimisation, Social Networking such as Facebook and Twitter or about your own website, simply visit our contact page and leave your telephone number or Skype profile details and we will contact you about coming on the show.

If you are based in West Yorkshire we might be able to come and see you, otherwise we can arrange an interview over the phone. We will find a way, leave that to us.

So visit our contact page if you would like to be featured on our podcast. It is a great way of getting your business known by new people who will be downloading it via iTunes. And we are more than happy to plug your website during the course of it. After all business is all about working together and helping each other. So we are always glad to be able to help in any way we can. Besides, it makes the Podcast more interesting.

The podcast will be available for downloads via our website and via iTunes, so if you have an Apple iPhone you are in luck, because you can listen to us on the go. Being able to download the business web design podcast will also mean you can do what you choose with it anyway.

We wanted to offer more help to businesses and this is another great way of doing it. You can contact us if you would like to be featured on the show, another great chance for your business to get a free advert, but remember, you must have something interesting to say.

The Podcast will be a monthly release on iTunes to begin with, but we will see what happens from there and try to increase that as time goes on. It all depends on how much material we have and how much help we get, as well as demand.

We will update you about the release date of the business website designers Easybiz Sites podcast, Easybiz Pod.

We have worked on everything from our telephone systems to our new Technical Support, which is now available out of our office hours until 11pm. We have also made sure anybody contacting us using the 01274 792006 number will get through to the right person at all time, this includes a Service where if for any reason your call is missed, we are able to send you a text message if you are not calling on a witheld number.

We would like to apologise for any inconveniences anybody may have experienced during the time we have been setting up and testing our new systems, but we hope that you will be pleased with the results of our efforts, which our clients will soon receive information about.