Archives for April 2014

Save Big On Green Web Hosting

50% off our Green Web Hosting plans

We have just launched a pretty amazing deal on a business to business deals website called BizzBuzz.

Save 50% on Green Web Hosting

The deal kicks off today and is valid until the 28th of May 2014.

So you can save 50% on the first billing cycle on any of our green web hosting plans, only on the 12 months or 2 year billing cycles.
 

Huge savings with this deal are as follows:

Lite plan 12 months normally $117.01. With 50% off = $58.50
Lite plan 2 years normally $226.86. With 50% off = $113.43

Business plan 12 months normally $234.61. With 50% off = $117.30
Business plan 2 years normally $454.86. With 50% off = $227.43

Big Business plan 12 months normally $352.21. With 50% off = $176.10
Big Business plan 2 years normally $682.86. With 50% off = $341.43

Master plan 12 months normally $469.81. With 50% off = $234.90
Master plan 2 years normally $910.86. With 50% off = $455.43

Note all plans have an additional standard $9.95 setup fee which isn’t included in the above pricing. The setup fee is not discounted.

Wind power green web hosting

 

Benefits Of Getting Your Website Green Hosted

  • You are investing in technology solutions backed by renewable energy
  • You can tell the world your web site is 300% Green Hosted
  • You can lower your carbon footprint
  • You are helping us to save the planet, one website at a time
  • You are doing something to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  • Our local support team will be ready to help you with anything you need
  • Instant account activation so you get your website online fast
  • We use Paypal for our payment processing so you know you can shop safely and securely
  • You will have access to the industry standard cPanel website management tool

Client Testimonial

Climatefirst foundation has been working with Byron Bay Web Hosting since 2009. As a not for profit organisation focused on sustainability we find the green hosting service a great way to reduce our pollution footprint and positively contribute to a cleaner future. Simon at Byron Bay Web Hosting has provided excellent technical support 24/7 throughout our engagement and we would recommend the services of Byron Bay Web Hosting to all individuals, businesses and organisations that are eco-conscious and require professional internet services.

Adrian Vannisse & Werner Murray, Climatefirst foundation

Get 50% off Green Web Hosting now

This special once off deal is only valid until May the 28th so best to grab it now while you still can, this is by far the biggest discount we’ve ever done.

Save 50% On Green Web HostingSimply apply coupon code 'bizzbuzz' in the cart  

Hashtags – What They Are And How To Use Them

Not sure what Hashtags are or why you would use them?

Most people who frequent social media networks these days should be familiar with the #hashtag.

But even if you have seen them around, have you used them and do you really know how to leverage them to your advantage?

hashtag

 

We can explain what hashtags are and how to use them on your social media pages and profiles.

We’ve also found a handy infographic with some interesting information, and some pro tips for the power users and online marketers out there

What are hashtags?

Hashtags used on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are a way to sort or label your posts using certain keywords preceded by the hash symbol. Basically you are using the keyword phrase used in the hashtag to categorise your post.

Twitter was the first social media website to use and popularise the hashtag.

When you use hashtags in your post it then allows other people who aren’t your friends or directly connected to you to see your posts. Clearly this is a bonus for businesses and brands who want to leverage extra exposure by clever use of hashtags within their posts.

Special events across many different industries will create a unique hashtag for that event, so anyone wanting to join the conversation can simply use that hashtag on their post and get to the right audience who is actively searching for that tag.

See the explanation of Hashtags on Wikipedia

Check out the infographic from Quicksprout below for a few pointers about how to use hashtags to create an online presence for yourself, or for your brand.

How to Use Hashtags to Increase Your Online Presence
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout

 

How you can benefit by using Hashtags

  • Easily and effectively brand your posts
  • Gain more exposure to your content
  • Create a buzz around a special event
  • Increase your engagement rate
  • Gain more followers
  • Improve your brands reputation
  • Run competitions using a hashtag
  • Educate people on a particular topic
  • Track your online presence
  • Find related or trending topics

Conclusion

Hopefully you can now understand what a great tool hashtags are, and why you should be using them for your social media campaigns.

Do you have any success stories from your own clever use of hashtags? If so we would love to hear about it, leave a comment on this post with the details.

Or if you need a hand with your social media campaigns feel free to enquire below, we’d be more than happy to help. Ask About Social Media Management  

    The Heartbleed Bug – Why You Need To Change Your Passwords Now

    What is The Heartbleed Bug

    In case you haven’t been on the Internet or looked an any online news in the past few days there is a new Internet security vulnerability called The Heartbleed Bug.

    News websites and technology blogs have gone into overdrive posting articles about this new OpenSLL bug over the past few days, and with good reason as it is one of the biggest online security threats in recent years.

    The Heartbleed Bug

    The Heartbleed Bug is a vulnerability in the widely used OpenSSL cryptographic software library. What on earth is that you ask? Well SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer.

    When you are logged into a website such as an online shopping cart or your Gmail account for example, you will notice a little padlock next to the web address in your web browser. Also you will have https: at the start of the web address instead of the normal http:

    This means you are in an SSL secured layer so that any sensitive information you are sending is encrypted, which basically keeps it safer from being eavesdropped or accessed by hackers.

    The Heartbleed Bug allows anyone on the Internet to access the memory of systems that have the vulnerability. This in turn allows them to access secret session and private keys used by SSL which would allow decrypting of past and future SSL traffic on that web server.

    Heartbleed Bug

    Why is The Heartbleed Bug so Nasty?

    As OpenSSL is so widely used on web servers this is a massive concern. It would appear the vulnerability has been there since December 2011, but hackers have only just realised it was there. Or the knowledge of it’s existence has only just been made public.

    So basically anyone who had the know how about the Heartbleed Bug technique since December 2011 could have used the vulnerability to eavesdrop on any secured information being sent to the affected web servers.

    Which Passwords You Need To Change NOW

    As OpenSLL is so commonly used on web servers, even some of the biggest brands have been vulnerable to The Heartbleed Bug for quite sometime.

    We found this great article on Mashable published yesterday called The Heartbleed Hit List: The Passwords You Need to Change Right Now.

    We have collated the data from this article below so you can easily go through the list of websites you probably use every day. You should immediately change your passwords for all of the websites listed.

    All of these sites listed either definitely were affected, or it is unclear if they were. Best to be on the safe side and change your passwords asap.

    Passwords You Need To Change Immediately

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Tumblr
    • Google
    • Yahoo
    • Gmail
    • Yahoo Mail
    • Amazon Web Services
    • Etsy
    • GoDaddy
    • Intuit(TurboTax)
    • USAA
    • Box
    • Dropbox
    • GitHub
    • IFTTT
    • Minecraft
    • OKCupid
    • Soundcloud
    • Wunderlist

    Video Simply Explaining The Heartbleed Bug

    This video created by Mashable explains the bug reasonably simply


    Test a website’s server for The Heartbleed Bug

    You can use this Heartbleed test to put in a website address and see if that website has the Heartbleed Bug on it’s web server.

    The Good News

    Our web servers here at Byron Bay Web Hosting did not have the vulnerability, so you don’t need to worry.

    Something We Found Interesting About Heartbleed

    One thing we thought was very interesting about The Heartbleed Bug is its branding. As far a we know this is the first Internet security vulnerability that has it’s own cool logo.

    The Heartbleed Bug Logo Branding

    Not only that it also has its own website here: The Heartbleed Bug.

    We aren’t the only ones thinking the way this thing has been branded for mass consumption is a little odd – check out this article on TechCrunch called Heartbleed, The First Security Bug With A Cool Logo.

    Conclusion

    Security online in the modern digital world is of utmost importance, with people making online transactions every day that could expose their sensitive data such as credit card and banking details.

    The Heartbleed Bug looks to be the most serious Internet security treat we may have ever had, and it’s not quite over yet.

    Until all vulnerable systems running OpenSSL are patched and any SSL certificates used on those machines are renewed there is still the chance that the Heartbleed Bug could be used to access sensitive data. We will keep you posted on any new updates to this situation as they arise.

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