4 Reasons All Photographers Need to Secure Their Websites

Now, not only do business owners or brands have websites, even photographers have seen the need to have a website as a portfolio for their works.

As a photographer, having a website is an advantage because you can direct clients there, earn extra money when people see your work and wants to engage your services, show off your artistic ability, etc.

We know that every website is vulnerable to attack this is why securing websites is essential. Photographers need to secure their websites. After all, they don’t want to wake up one morning and find out their website has been cyberattacked because they did not put security in place.

Photographers spend a lot of time creating beautiful photographs or pictures and it is saddening when you also have to battle with your website security.

So, as a photographer why do you need to secure your website?

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1. Protection of your image

As creatives, we constantly upload our works on social media or websites as a way to market ourselves. This puts photographers at a disadvantage because they have to upload their images on websites to build their credibility and portfolio.

When people come across a beautiful image, they will want to make use of it in a way that fits their purpose. This makes images uploaded on websites not to be protected.

It is true that photographers need to secure their websites to protect them from cyberattacks and theft of their intellectual property. But, you also have to do other things to protect your work.

You can start by placing a copyright notice on your website to dissuade people from using your image without authorization. You could also use some JavaScript coding to prevent people from being able to save your images.

Besides doing this, you could upload a low quality of your pictures because it will dissuade people from using a picture that is of low quality.

Another thing you can do is watermark your images. Though some people have mastered the act of removing watermarks from images.

Doing all these things takes time and energy, but you don’t want to lose your work or see people use your images without appropriate credit.

Having a website where you can upload your pictures freely, put JavaScript encryption, or use your images as a CSS background image is way better. But, you need to protect your website.

2. It builds trust with customers

If as a photographer, you are using your website as a portfolio or to get customers or potential clients, then securing your website is important.

Seeing the padlock sign on the URL of a website and seeing HTTPS certificate instead of HTTP informs a visitor of your website that it is secure and this helps build trust.

When a website isn’t secure, that website is prone to attack. If a visitor visits the website, they could also go through a cyberattack and no one wants to be a victim.

Securing your website makes your customers know that your business is secure, and they can easily process payments without fear of being vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Additionally, they will be confident in coming back to your website because they know it is secure and this helps you build trust with your customer while retaining clients.

3. Protection of your customers

Customers signing up on your website, subscribing to your newsletter, and paying for your images or services are doing this purely on the trust they have for you and your brand.

So, to protect not just you, but your customers inclusive, photographers need to secure their websites.

When a cybercriminal successfully attacks a website, they gain access to data, and credit card information happens to be the most vulnerable, email address, and other information also follow. It is essential to secure customers’ data with proper SSL certificate. Here, we advise to install SSL cert like RapidSSL certificate, Thawte SSL certificate, and GlobalSign SSL certificate. All these SSL certificates offer same level of encryption but at low cost.

With access to credit card information, a bank account can be accessed and money is withdrawn. It damages your reputation and speaks ill of your brand when your customer experiences this after accessing your website or making payments there.

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Also, getting spammed after signing up on your website or subscribing to your newsletter makes them wary of your website and lose your trust.

As a website owner, the information a customer shares on your website is meant to be protected, this is why you should not neglect to protect your website while being focused on creating beautiful photographs or images.

4. It protects data

Photographers need to secure photo data just like any Saas companies that have access to their users’ photo data.

This data is not just the photographs they are uploading, it also includes email addresses, logins, phone numbers, and credit card information.

Security personnel Francis from a photo editing software company Cutout.pro commented, “if you leak any information on users, it will totally destroy all your user’s trust and drag your company down. So you have to invest in protecting that data at all costs.”

The vulnerability of credit card information to cyberattacks has made many people wary of paying for products or services online if the website is not secure.

Cybercriminals gaining access to the data on the website make securing the data a matter of importance to website owners.

As a photographer, you may think that securing your website is not a big deal, but if you are seeing photography as a business to you, you need to secure it.

To prevent access to your data, you must not use public Wi-Fi when accessing your website because most cybercriminals get information and access to the website from there.

Also, use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that will protect the connection between your device and the internet. This makes data being sent secured and encrypted.

Final thoughts

It has been stated repeatedly that photographers need to secure their websites. But, if as a photographer, you find it hard to handle the security of your website, then you can employ an expert to do that for you.

The security of your website and your images is a priority, even when creating beautiful images seem to be a priority for you.

Don’t lose your work, your client’s trust, and your data simply because you didn’t put security in place on your website.

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