Internet Marketing Tip From FriendsWhoCare: Security Alert: Making a Thank You Page

Yesterday I accidentally discovered 1 answer for the question,

how does a hacker hack something like a Digital Download?

Here's what happened.

While doing some keyword research I stumbled across a free video about how to read PDF ebooks online. Now the video showed how to use a downloadable tool to find online PDF ebooks so you could read them free of charge.

And although I wasn't interested in downloading the tool, the video made me curious about the types of advanced searches allowed by Google. So I checked. And sure enough, using Google's advanced search, I could perform the same searches as provided by the tool.

This discovery then made me curious about how secure thank you pages are from Google searches.

Like many online marketers I both sell and give away digital products. However I only want those who have done the desired action, purchase or sign up, to actually reach my Thank You page.

Unfortunately I discovered that many don't take extra security measures to stop internet hackers when they're making a Thank You page and it is very possible to access all types of free and not free digital information.

For instance, yesterday I found the download pages for:

Dylan Loh's "Clickbank Profit Machine"

Ewen Chia's "Ebook Money Machine"

"HOW TO BECOME AN INTERNET MILLIONAIRE" with 3 bonuses

The Webmaster's Gambling Package with 112 products

MikeFilsaime "eBook Marketing for Newbies"

All of these products were being sold and the prices ranged from $7.97 to $67.

And while some may call me "stupid" I really do try to be honest. So even though I don't have some of these products I Did Not download any of them. Nor do I encourage anyone else to do so unless they have actually purchased them.

The point I want to make is that you really must take some security measures to protect your digital downloads. And the first step is when you're making your Thank You page.

Here are 5 things you can do to protect your download when making a Thank You page:

Include the following meta code in your Thank You page so search engine spiders won't find your page. This will work for many search engines like Google but doesn't work for all of them.

<head>
<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW">
</head>

If you have your Thank You page in a directory with no index.html file then either use the Index Manager in cPanel to keep others from seeing the list of files in the directory or create an index.html file that redirects to another page. You can use this redirection code:

<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" content="0;URL=http://www.yourwebpage.html">
</head>

Give your Thank You page and the directory it resides in hard to guess names.

Put your downloads in a password protected directory and email the password to your customers. Then if others find the Thank You page they still can't access the download.

Avoid using common keyword search terms on your download page like "thank your for your purchase" or "thank you for your order." You can use graphics and buttons instead.

Now I can't guarantee that taking some or all of these measures will stop all internet hackers from finding your Thank You page or stealing your downloads. However I can guarantee that if you don't take some measures to protect your digital downloads then your downloads are at risk of being found by search engines.

I know that I've been using 2 of the above measures just like the "gurus" whose products I found. But now that I've accidentally discovered how hackers hack something I have a better understand of how to protect my digital downloads.

To Your Success,
Susan

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Tags: making a thank you page, how to protect digital downloads, how does a hacker hack something, stop internet hackers