It would be safe to say that in the history of the Internet, 2020 has seen one of the biggest shifts towards online shopping. In fact, according to a report published by Australia Post, between March and August over 8.1 million households shopped online – an increase of 16 per cent on the same time last year.

And if nationally, online shopping growth for August this year was 85.3% year-on-year (YOY), you can only imagine what the trends for the holiday season are going to be.

So the question is, are you prepared to handle this online shopping rush coming your way?

It’s important to remember that while ecommerce has been seeing a spike in numbers, Aussies are also becoming more aware about cyber security and are taking proactive steps to understand and mitigate their risks online.

With one of the biggest e-shopping dates of the year, Black Friday, just around the corner, here are some tips to help ensure your business website is up to the task:

• Get an SSL Certificate for your website to ensure Black Friday customers can find you on Google search results (don’t be blocked)
• Don’t let your hosting fall over with the high volume of Black Friday customers
• Don’t lose a customer on Black Friday (they don’t have a second to lose) – make sure your website has a fast load time
• Consider using Website Protection services which includes 24×7 monitoring of your website and fixing of identified issues as they are occurring

According to GoDaddy’s Safe Surfing research, two thirds (64%) of Australians surveyed said they would refrain from using a website if the company or brand had already been compromised by an online security threat or data hack. These numbers highlight the importance of businesses protecting themselves against potential risks as their success relies on the trust built with their consumers.

So how do customers decide if a website is safe? 

Sixty per cent of the GoDaddy survey respondents know what to look for when it comes to determining whether a site is secure. The majority of users (78%) look for the security lock symbol in the URL (78%) to determine whether a site is indeed secure, followed by a URL containing ‘Https’ (65%) and the contact details of the business (56%).

If you’re looking to implement a few simple and foundational online safeguards such as SSL Certificates and Website Backup plans, you can look at GoDaddy’s offerings, which work well for businesses of all sizes.