September Struggles
September has been a busy month. I know I haven't posted as often during September but that was because I've just been too busy. It was my birthday, school started (with my eldest starting a new adventure at secondary school), and then sports training started again too. Throw in a few other general "life" things and Tada! busy Jo.
Now I have tried to get back into the flow of things towards the end of the month but life decided to put me on hold again. It all started with Facebook blocking my website URL...
Facebook blocked my website
I'm still not sure why they decided to block my URL as they have possibly the worst user/customer service on the web. I tried messaging them, reported the mistake, and did their debug thing too... nothing.
I even tried to reach out to them via Twitter as I didn't have any luck getting an answer on their own platform. I know right?! Well I didn't get a response there either.
I reread the Facebook Community Standards pages about a thousand times over but can't see any way my website violates their terms. On this site I post mainly about books and blogging.
I'm also definitely not a spammer. In fact, I'd been sharing my links on Facebook much less in recent months than usual due to the summer break.
It would be a shame to have to close my Facebook page but to be honest it's not what bothered me most about them blocking my URL. What I'd really miss is Facebook groups. I've been a member of some awesome groups on there for a while now and would miss the other members. Those groups were also getting good results in terms of traffic to my website and comments on my content.
Facebook finally unblocked my website yesterday. YAY! In true Facebook style they didn't send any communication about it, but at least it works again now. I also still don't know why it was blocked in the first place. Ah the mysteries of Facebook...
Facebook finally unblocked my website yesterday. YAY! In true Facebook style they didn't send any communication about it, but at least it works again now. I also still don't know why it was blocked in the first place. Ah the mysteries of Facebook...
Increasing website security
So what now? Well, for starters I decided to make sure my website is more secure. I've updated my Who Is Guard and activated a new SSL Certificate. I also activated Comodo Secure (you'll notice the new certificate down at the bottom in the footer).
I'm not sure if it was updating these things that made Facebook unblock my website and let me share my links again or not. It was something I needed to do anyway, and so in a way I'm happy my website got blocked as it gave me the kick I needed to do it.
Website security is important and now I'm all up to date. This also means you have peace of mind when visiting my website as you know the systems in place to protect you.
Have you ever had your website blocked on Facebook? What steps have you taken on your own website/blog to make sure it is secure?
You might also like:
Blog Audit Challenge: Links
Blog Audit Challenge: Legal Disclaimers
Blog Audit Challenge: Keywords and SEO
I'm not sure if it was updating these things that made Facebook unblock my website and let me share my links again or not. It was something I needed to do anyway, and so in a way I'm happy my website got blocked as it gave me the kick I needed to do it.
Website security is important and now I'm all up to date. This also means you have peace of mind when visiting my website as you know the systems in place to protect you.
Have you ever had your website blocked on Facebook? What steps have you taken on your own website/blog to make sure it is secure?
You might also like:
Blog Audit Challenge: Links
Blog Audit Challenge: Legal Disclaimers
Blog Audit Challenge: Keywords and SEO
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