blog

[Pete McNamara]

Re: blog

Not exactly. Your store will already be a sub domain (www.yourstore.com) so Google will treat each separately i.e blog.yourstore.com as a separate domain to www.yourstore.com.

Your blog will build its own authority with search engines, as a separate site.

However, this is no reason for despair as there will end up being hundreds and perhaps thousands of natural links to your store, from the blog e.g. a discussion about a product in the blog will contain a link to that product page. So, you store will end up benefiting, perhaps not quite as much as you had hoped, but nevertheless, benefiting significantly.

[Pete McNamara]

Re: blog

And in case it is not clear, I recommend the blog.yourstore.com as the way to go and follow Rick's suggestions above.

[Rick Wilson]

Re: blog

Pete,

Thanks for chiming in

[Donna]

Re: blog

If you get a wordpress blog does it have to be hosted by someone? I am confused! I would like to get the Miva blog but we are a small store with limited resources. So If I get a wordpress blog and link it to our website would I still have the same seo value. Sorry, I have to be frugal sometimes! Thanks, Donna

[Rick Wilson]

Re: blog

Donna,

If you host with us, we will also host your Wordpress blog at no additional cost. It's just about some security decisions when setting up.

[Donna]

Re: blog

Thanks Rick. You are our host with very good service I might add. Now I can quit talking about this and just go forward with this. What security decisions should I look for when setting up. Thanks, Donna

[Rick Wilson]

Re: blog

You need to decide on subdomain (more secure) vs directory (less secure but possibly better SEO).

[Donna]

Re: blog

Would directory be www.treasuresofthesouthwest.com/blog

Would subdomain be blog.treasuresofthesouthwest.com

Please bear with me I am just a retailer! Thanks, Donna

[Rick Wilson]

Re: blog

Donna,

That is exactly right, and nothing to bear. If I post a short reply it's usually cause I'm doing it from my phone

Also for the record, I'm heading out on vacation later today and will be offline for 8 days, so don't take any lack of reply by me to have significance.

[Donna]

Re: blog

Thanks for all of your help. Have a great vacation. Donna

[InvincibleRecordings]

Re: blog

After researching Wordpress I have been told both by my hosting company and programming company that in their experience Wordpress does not create security issues. That it's out of date add-ons that can create issues so it's important to check to make sure they are up to date. Also using a sub domain was not recommended for SEO reasons. Not trying to start an argument but it seems we have different opinions on this subject from professionals in the business. It seems common knowledge that Word Press is used to make complete sites for fortune 500 companies which it would seem would know about security issues. I checked around and could not find sites using sub domains including Miva sites. I am sure they are out they but it seems rare.

[Rick Wilson]

Re: blog

When we setup blogs for companies we use WordPress as well, we're not anti-WP at all.

I also agree that most WP hacks are due to either poor quality or outdated plugins or old WP installs.

However, that doesn't make core WP secure from a credit card handling perspective.

Now that I've been through many years of credit card security audits, I can saw with virtually absolute certainty that no software that's not built with this specifically in mind is going to be "properly secure" and that includes WordPress.

It's also worth noting that Fortune 500 companies get hacked as much or more than the small guys and being big doesn't mean they made a strong security decision.

[InvincibleRecordings]

Re: blog

Thanks for your fast response Rick. I would think most Miva people like myself are not interested in using WP for credit cards as Miva has so many benefits in that area not to mention all the many other shopping cart and general website building advantages and huge choices of plug-ings. Miva is obviously a very mature product. In our case we are wanting to use WP for a blog only and want to keep it simple and secure and SEO is very important.

[Rick Wilson]

Re: blog

If you put WP side by side with Miva Merchant (in the same root web directory) you are adding a potential security hole to your Miva site.

That's why we recommend the sub directory route.

Ultimately it's a choice you'll need to be comfortable with.

[Pete McNamara]

Re: blog

Here are a few more thoughts on this issue:

1. Web server security. A web server is just another computer, like a desktop, with disks, folders and files. Because the web servers are "open" (via a permanent Internet connection), anyone could download and read any file on them e.g. any web page, image, sound file, pdf etc. Similarly, any file could be uploaded to the server, just as any file can be uploaded to your desktop, with an appropriate connection.

To limit such activity, server administrators add certain files (let's call them access files) to the server in different places, which limit access to certain areas and to downloading and uploading files. So, in the case of uploading files, these access files would generally prevent all access except via an FTP or SFTP link, which is password protected (i.e. one or more access files on the server contains the instructions necessary to limit this access). Similarly with downloading files, the access files will typically limit access to one folder/directory - the public one (can be called www, public, http [in the case of Miva Merchant]. Sometimes more than one folder/directory is made accessible, but this is a side issue to this discussion.

2. Hacking. This generally means gaining access to the root of the domain i.e. giving access to all files and folders on the server. So, all files can be downloaded, including the access files. Any file can be uploaded including changed access files (to permit "legitimate" access i.e. with a separate username and password), changed html pages (such as when sites are "defaced"), trojans which are automatically installed on the site visitors computers when they view a page in the site.

So, if a blog was installed in the same folder as an online store files and the blog hacked, then access will be gained to all files, including the store and access file, not just the blog files. And, vice versa.

3. Shopping cart security vs blog security. A shopping cart takes captures confidential customer data and payment information. A shopping cart HAS to be completely secure and shopping cart developers such as Miva Merchant, spend a huge amount of time and resources on ensuring the cart and system are secure. A blog developer, not so much.

4. Risk and consequences. My parents in law never experienced a house fire - either at their house or in their immediate neighbourhood. They also didn't believe in home insurance and never had any. I have no experience of a house fire either at my house or in my neighbourhood. I pay home insurance. My parents in law have now passed on so I guess I look like a fool for paying insurance all these years and still not had a claim. They saved all those insurance premiums. The reason home fire insurance cover is so inexpensive (compared to the cost of rebuilding a home) is that the risk of a fire is extremely low. The risk of a small online store (i.e. not a Fortune 500 store) being attacked by hackers is extremely low (they go after the high profile stores). So, if the risk is extremely low, why do people e.g. pay for fire insurance?

The consequences. The vast majority of people cannot afford to pay the cost of rebuilding their house, if it burned to the ground. So, they pay for insurance.

What are the consequences if a small online store is hacked and customer data stolen or misused? Probably about the same as if your house burned to the ground. A large company e.g. a large bank, can overcome a security breach by spending millions on advertising and PR and because they are so large, it is generally difficult for their customers to go elsewhere. A small business can't spend millions and it is likely there are dozens, if not thousands, of competitors who can supply exactly or similar products or services. So, if a small store is hacked, its reputation is burned to the ground and years of hard graft, building reputation and sales, are trashed overnight. If a blog is hacked, well hey, what the heck.

5. Shopping cart security vs blog security - consequences. What are the consequences to a shopping cart developer if their cart is hacked? Probably, similar to their own homes burning to the ground - i.e. it would be the death of the cart. What are the consequences to a blog developer such as Wordpress? Not much. So, of the two, which one is motivated to the point of paranoia, about security and which one "cares" about security?

If a blog is placed in a subdomain (blog.yourdomain.com) and it is hacked, if the webhost has set up the server with good security, it will be highly unlikely the store can be hacked (because it is in a different folder/directory).

If a blog is placed in same folder/directory as the online store and the blog is hacked, even if the webhost has set up the server with good security, there is a possibility that the store can then be hacked too.

Are you prepared to roll the dice? My parents in law did and they came out in front.

Pete

PS. I did a search in Google for "wordpress secure" and similar terms and found many entries highlighting experience with Wordpress blog hacking. Here are some words from one such entry, dated August 7 2012:
"About a month ago, this WordPress blog was hacked. And since my other websites are hosted on the same web server, the hacker successfully managed to wipe off all these sites from the Internet as well. The web hosting company says that it could have happened because one of the sites was running an older version of WordPress. The passwords weren’t compromised though as all the login activity happened from known IP addresses. It was a tough period but fortunately, the deleted sites have been restored and the traffic is also back to normal."