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IM Disaster Preparedness

by Cybria
4 replies
Okay, this topic isn't sexy, but dealing with a worst case scenario is just something you have to learn about eventually right? Not long ago I read a post about how so many people were complaining that Panda and/or Penguin put them out of business. The OP rebuttled that change is a part of owning a business, therefore an internet marketer should have a contingency plan for every worst case scenario. So this morning I'm working on an IM contingency plan for myself. I've come up with the following hair-pulling disasters so far:

  • Your website server goes offline
  • Paypal freezes your account
  • Someone hacks into and hijacks one or more of your websites
  • Some very efficient virus wipes your hard drive clean
  • You have multiple lists and you send and email to the wrong one
  • Your domain name expires and someone else buys it
  • You accidentally delete your analytics logs
  • A search algorithm update sinks your website to the 2nd page on Google or worse..
  • Your website is banned from a search engine altogether

Can you think of anything else? What would you do in the above situations? Maybe you can use this to create or add to your own "disaster preparedness manual" for your business.
#disaster #preparedness
  • Profile picture of the author James.N
    Originally Posted by Cybria View Post

    [*]Your website server goes offline[*]Paypal freezes your account[*]Someone hacks into and hijacks one or more of your websites[*]Some very efficient virus wipes your hard drive clean[*]You have multiple lists and you send and email to the wrong one[*]Your domain name expires and someone else buys it[*]You accidentally delete your analytics logs[*]A search algorithm update sinks your website to the 2nd page on Google or worse..[*]Your website is banned from a search engine altogether[/LIST]
    Use a reliable host - most good hosts have 99% uptime. Also, you could use a service like uptimerobot or pingdom to make sure your site is always up.

    Originally Posted by Cybria View Post

    [*]Someone hacks into and hijacks one or more of your websites
    Always keep recent backups of your website. This is easy in cPanel or there are plugins that will do this for your Wordpress sites. Also, if you have wordpress sites be sure you're keeping your WP files, plugins, and themes updated. Also delete any plugins and themes you are not using.

    Originally Posted by Cybria View Post

    [*]Some very efficient virus wipes your hard drive clean
    Like everything else, keep backups of your hard drive and important files.

    Originally Posted by Cybria View Post

    [*]You have multiple lists and you send and email to the wrong one
    Always double check the list you are sending to before hitting send. Also, send a test email to yourself to make sure all links are working, html displays correctly, etc.

    Originally Posted by Cybria View Post

    [*]Your domain name expires and someone else buys it
    Not much you can do about this other than try to buy it back from the person that bought it. Don't let your domain expire.

    Originally Posted by Cybria View Post

    [*]A search algorithm update sinks your website to the 2nd page on Google or worse..
    [*]Your website is banned from a search engine altogether
    These 2 are sort of one in the same. Use proper SEO. Don't use spammy and black hat techniques. If you are dead set on using automated tools, don't use them on your money sites. Use unique content. All the other stuff you've heard hundreds of times in other threads...
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    • Profile picture of the author Cybria
      Hey quadxnet...thanks for the tips. I've added some to my contingency list. About this one though:

      Originally Posted by quadxnet View Post


      Not much you can do about this other than try to buy it back from the person that bought it. Don't let your domain expire.
      According to this blog post, the exception would be if your domain has your company name in it and your company name is deeply affiliated with your company. Imagine how upset you'd be if someone was just directing your traffic to their affiliate links. In this case you could contact ICANN and make a complaint. But overall it's just best to renew your domain name ahead of time.
      Signature

      - Tiff

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      • Profile picture of the author Buford Mobley
        Originally Posted by Cybria View Post

        Hey quadxnet...thanks for the tips. I've added some to my contingency list. About this one though:



        According to this blog post, the exception would be if your domain has your company name in it and your company name is deeply affiliated with your company. Imagine how upset you'd be if someone was just directing your traffic to their affiliate links. In this case you could contact ICANN and make a complaint. But overall it's just best to renew your domain name ahead of time.
        If the domain is that important, I use the auto-renew feature my hosting co. (Bluehost) provides
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        • Profile picture of the author Cybria
          Originally Posted by Buford Mobley View Post

          If the domain is that important, I use the auto-renew feature my hosting co. (Bluehost) provides
          Also I'm sure all domain providers send you emails when the domain is about to expire..so if you get to this point then you must have really not been paying attention. Nevertheless, it's good to know what to do just in case.
          Signature

          - Tiff

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