Hacked and Happy! (REALLY)

My professional website was hacked!

I was forced to rebuild.

The site was adding little value to my business development process. It’s safe to say that I had limited Return on Investment (ROI) from its original development cost along with my incremental improvements along the way.

According to Go Daddy —my domain host and host to zillions of other unaware business owners and solo-professionals—
the villains breached my site quite easily through my Wordpress blog site.
Apparently I was running an old version of Wordpress that requires my pro-active updating—who knew? I didn’t know—what I didn’t know!

The Rant: I now know that Go Daddy has a crack team of investigators to explain why, due to my error alone, they would be deleting my site, if I didn’t correct my problem in their given timeframe. This looked and felt like poor Customer Care and a lack of support for our hosting agreement. It’s true. I’m no technology whiz. However, wouldn’t it be in everybody’s best interest for Go Daddy to better serve their market by providing instructions for necessary website protection and maintenance?

Let’s consider: How much time does this situation cost Go Daddy as well as us, their customers? What kind of impact does this empty service have on the Go Daddy brand—and ultimately the brand of each customer? And how many small business owners can afford an unplanned reconstruction…plus the down-time? Is Go Daddy to blame? Or the local guy who helped with the initial launch of my blog? Perhaps they are culpable…or at the least, share in the neglect. Again, I don’t know—what I don’t know!

I do now know: If your website, blog, and online presence are integral to your business development, you must choose a robust hosting partner and a stable platform for content management. You must ask the basic questions to understand the care and feeding of such a dynamic platform.

The exponential return: I am thrilled with the changes I have made in my business as a result of this unexpected issue. I want more for my business and more for my clients than a blog and website that does not serve effectively. May I say to you—embrace the unexpected; it just may be one of the best things that ever happened to you!

What are your experiences with your business website?