Key Issues in Starting and Running an Online Business
You might think that setting up an online business is easy, and it is. It’s so simple to set up a company that you’ll no doubt forget about some of the most important aspects of running an online business. Things like liability, copyright, security and more issues that can plague newbie online owners. It is important that you are aware of some of the problems here. Otherwise, you might find that missing out important details causes your company to come crashing down soon then you would like to imagine.
Liability
Don’t forget that as an online business owner you are still liable for things related to your company. For instance, you might own a website, and you are certainly accountable for anything that you post there. As such, site owners have to set up legal disclaimers, otherwise you could certainly be sued. Particularly, if you’re releasing content that is false, slanderous, copyright or offensive. That’s why you do want to be careful about using outsourcing businesses with content. You should at least be checking the articles that they are posting on your site. There have been many cases where online businesses have faced lawsuits due to content. For instance, one SEO site was sued by Google for claiming they could guarantee users a top spot on the SERPs. Something which Google claim, even they can not do.
Security
If you think that being an online business means you’re not exposed to security issues, think again. There are plenty of problems here that could hit your company. One of the most popular hacks recently is a DNS attack. A DNS server hack will take a business off the web index. Essentially, this means that if it’s searched for it won’t appear. It will be completely inaccessible to anyone unless they are accessing it through the domain name. Even then, there’s a good chance it won’t be fully functional. Many high profile sites were hit by a hack like this last year including the BBC news website.
Digital Dilemmas
If you’re running a digital business, then that means everything related to your company will be online. In one way that’s incredibly useful. It means that the business can be accessed from anywhere and be completely flexible. There’s no reason for an office at all. On the other hand, if information is lost, it could be gone for good. That’s why you want to use an internet backup service. This will ensure that all your files are available if and when you need them. It saves you from a difficult disaster recover where important info might be missing.
Copyright
Last but not least it’s important that you don’t post anything online that belongs to someone else without their credit. If you find information on the Google index, you must assume it is copyright protected. Therefore, if you copy and paste it on your site, that’s plagiarism. However, if you can access content that isn’t on the index this is copyscape free. It means that you can use it legally and many business owners do recycle content this way. It’s useful if previously used content that has now been abandoned was popular in the past.
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