Cybersecurity for Small Businesses

 Hi Everyone ツ,

This is my final blog of the semester and year!!!, I am going to talk about cybersecurity for small businesses. 

Cybersecurity is important for small businesses. Certain factors can help small businesses not get caught within a cyber attack and have their data leaked. 

10 Crucial Cyber Security Tips for Small Businesses

More common steps for small businesses to protect their cybersecurity is having strong, unique passwords.Another basic one is having a two factor authentication,  for example, when you log into your email , a message also gets sent to your phone in order to authenticate it was you logging in. 

Slightly more advanced ways to protect cybersecurity is always ensuring your device is up to date because hackers can hack into older versions of softwares. 

If the small business is a non for profit or something to do with investing money, to make aware to the customers about phishing scams that could be floating around the area. By informing not to click on suspicious links from a number that is not the businesses, it will help build good representation and reliable insights for the small business 

National Cyber Security CentrePhishing: Spot and report scam emails ...

Smaller businesses could also invest in anti virus programmes such as Norton 360 and McAfee protection to keep the business and customers safe when using the small businesses website. 

Small businesses can also protect their data by investing in cybersecurity insurances. They are designed to protect small businesses from financial losses due to cyberattacks, data breaches, and other online threats. It can covers costs, including data recovery, legal fees, customer notifications, and even ransom payments in case of a ransomware attack. This is a good idea for smaller businesses and is recommended. 

Cyber Insurance Stats: 64% of businesses unfamiliar with coverage | AdvisorSmith

That is all now for my blogs

- Sarah 

SEO for Small Businesses: How to Compete with Big Brands Online

 Hi Everyone 😊,

So today I am going to be talking about SEO for small businesses and what they might do in order to compete with the bigger companies online. 

source; Digital MarketingHow Does SEO Work For Small Business ...

Firstly, what is an SEO? It is a Search Engine Optimisation . This is essential for the likes of small businesses as it collects numerous of strategies to improve the visibility of a small businesses website online. The main aim for both small and large businesses is to have as much SERPS (which means search engine results page) in order to maximise sales , leads and customer visits. 

source;What Is Small Business SEO?

Some SEO strategies to help a small business compete compare to businesses online would be to build a customer relationship with their customers and using certain keywords , like "Dry cleaners in the area of Waterford" as if the small businesses want local customers this may boost their moral and sales. 

source; Importance of Seo for Small Businesses | SPPC Digital

Build trust by sharing helpful content that answers customer questions. An example of this would be to have FAQs on the website to show that the smaller businesses understand the customers’ needs and are here to help compared to a larger company that may take a few business days to get back to. For example with bringing back my dry cleaner example from the paragraph above , having questions like '' what detergent is suitable for sensitive skin'' or other FAQs. 

Having a nice website that looks good on both mobile and website is also a competitive advantage for smaller businesses as majority of people search using their phones now a days. 

That is all I have for now until my next blog , 

Bye!

- Sarah  

Evolution of Internet Technologies: From Web 1.0 to Web 3.0

 Hi Everyone, 

I hope you had a good day :). 

Today I am going to talk about the evolution  of technology. specifically the evolution of internet technologies from Web 1.0 to Web 3.0. 

You may be wondering, what is Web 1.0 , Web 2.0 , Web 3.0. I am going to explain this for you down below 😊 .

Web 1 firstly is the 'static years' of the internet. this is when the internet consisted of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and JavaScripts. Web 1.0 can be considered as a read only format. Examples of Web 1.0 would be famous movie information site IMBd and the first version of amazon ( this was back when it was an online bookshop and not what it is today!!) The main aim of Web 1 was to portray as if it is a digital library. 

source; ABC Software Solutions Company | Learn about web 1.0, web 2.0, web 3.0 concepts

Web 2.0 is more extensive than Web 1. This is when the social aspect of the web came into place. Introduction to such things like ''cost per click'', ''web applications'' and the rise of wikipedia became really popular during this time.  This changed how users used the internet compared to Web 1 as it now had ''read-write'' formatting. By having all these new applications to the web , websites such as Facebook and twitter have been made and made the internet ultimately a more sociable place. 

source; Web 2.0 applications | Download Scientific Diagram

Web 3.0 is also and more often known as the decentralised web. Web 3 is a more individualistic point of view of web technologies as people want to start to take control of their identity and their data. Examples of Web 3.0 would be cryptocurrencies , Non - fungible tokens (both are a form of banking without the peer to peer transactions and ''owning it'') 

source; https://www.intelegain.com/how-will-the-rise-of-web-3-0-benefit-businesses-and-entrepreneurs/

That is all I have for my blog today, I hope you have a good rest of your week !

- Sarah 

Cloud Based Analytics for Small Businesses

 Hi Everyone!!!

I hope you all had a good week! Today , I am going to be talking about Cloud Based analystics for small businesses. 

Cloud-based analytics has become a game-changer for small businesses, offering powerful insights without the need for expensive equipment

. By moving analytics to the cloud, small businesses have more accessible tools that drive smarter decision-making and enhance competitiveness within the industries they are in. 

Platforms like Google Analytics and Microsoft Power BI make it easy to interpret data. For example, a small business like an online store for makeup can use this to track customer buying habits, adjust inventory, and even forecast future sales. 

This way, they can avoid overstock and boost profits.

An example of cloud based analyticsthe flexibility of use—you only pay for what you need, and you can scale up as your business grows. This makes it very user friendly too. 

Cloud based analytics can come with risks. If you are  storing sensitive information on third-party servers can expose small businesses to breaches. 

choosing the right cloud based analytic can be tricky but once it comes from a reputable source these services should be all good for small businesses. 

Thank you so much for reading , I hope ye have a good rest of your week :) 

- Sarah

SAAS ERP for SMES

 Hi Everyone!!!

I hope you all had a good week :) Today I am going to explain what Softwares as a Service for Small and Medium Enterprises.

A small and medium enterprise is a business that has little employees or people working within the company. This could be a company that has been only started up or a company with under 50 employers  for the need for a software as a service may be necessary for them. 

Saas cancels out large purchases on fancy software licenses or hard ware so this would be beneficial for these types of companies. SMEs can scale their usage up or down easily as their business grows.

 SaaS providers sometimes offer some security features such as encryption and cloud back up systems  that SMEs may struggle to implement on their own manually. 

Here I have also uploaded this really interesting and insightful video about what is a Software as a service system. :

I think personally Saas systems are really good for small to medium businesses as it also cuts down the costs of what the company is spending. examples of Saas systems are google analytics , dropbox,interspace , salesforce , google drive and many more.

That is all for my blog this week , I hope you learned a small bit about Saas for SME's and that the video linked above was good !

Bye!

- Sarah 

The Rise of Digital Payments

Hi Everyone!  

 

I hope you are all having a good day ! This week , I want to talk about the rise of digital payments. Something I use daily and I am sure a lot of other people use daily too! 

 

So what is a digital payment ?

It is when you go into a shop and when you go to pay for your items you use your phone to pay. Whether it is google pay or apple pay. It is a quick and easy transaction where all you need to do is tap your phone. It is long gone past the days where you need to tap your card or chip and pin your card for transactions over 50 euro, but card payments fall under digital payments too! 

  

 

You can also use these digital payments for online transactions. Many companies and websites such as shein,  Asos , booking.com , Ticketmaster and Boots use apple pay on the phone too. This is when you use your finger print scanner or face ID on the phone to verify a purchase.  Apple also use this for in application purchases. For example , when you are playing a game on a phone and want to buy in game funds.  

 

The rise of digital payments excelled throughout covid. This was because the use of notes and coins were somewhat demolished due to social distancing and hygiene. Now , this practise is still present in many in store shops where they have abolished paying by cash or have ‘card only’ vendors. An example of this is the 3arena. They only accept digital payments and no use of coins. This can also be a negative thing due to elderly people not having access to the information on their phone or the apple or google pay set up method on their phone.  

 

That is all for now! See you next week :)

Is the South East of Ireland a good place to invest for a tech firm ?

 Hi everyone :) so my blog today is explaining why I think the south east of Ireland is a good place to invest in a tech firm 😀.

So firstly , I think it is a good idea to invest here because of  examples of other companies thriving. According to irishtechnews.ie , it boasts up to a €500 million investment of companies in the last six months. 

Another reason for tech firms to invest in the south east is that the cost of living there compared to the likes of the capital , Dublin. Rent and housing is significantly cheaper in the likes of Waterford and Kilkenny. 

                                         

The South East have over 112 ICT firms, including the company I did my work placement with , Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny and three Technological Universities. This investment would be great for those who are seeking for graduates in the future. 

               

The South East of Ireland is also very accessible for those who commute from Dublin as there is a train from Heuston station Dublin to Plunkett station Waterford. 

             

Ireland is good for their relatively low costs when it comes to tax as the taxation for companies here is 12.5% according to Revenue. 

This also creates a good Foreign Direct Investment which is when investment from a party in one country have a business or corporation in another country. 

That's all for now !!!!

-Sarah :)