3 Ways That Starting A Blog Could Put You At Risk

There are a lot of things to consider when you’re starting a blog. You need to decide on what the content of the blog will be, work out how you’re going to find a readership, find your own specific voice, and then design the blog itself. But a lot of people don’t consider how their blog might put them at risk. You probably don’t think that starting your own blog is a very risky venture but it actually can be. These are some of the different ways that your blog could be putting you at risk.

It’s no secret that online security is a big concern for everybody these days and bloggers are no exception. You might wonder why hackers would bother with a random blog on the internet but there are actually quite a lot of reasons. If you blog about anything that could be considered controversial like politics or religion, for example, you might come under attack by hacktiviststhat don’t agree with your views on those topics. You can protect yourself to some extent by trying to give a well rounded view of those topics but either way, there’s always the chance that people might take issue with your site.

Some people may also attack your blog in an attempt to hold it hostage and then charge you a large sum of money to get it back up and running again. That puts you in a difficult position because you don’t want to give in but you also don’t want to start your blog again from scratch. The best way to protect yourself here is to make sure that you’re backing up your blog regularly.  That way, if your site is attacked, you can start again on a fresh site and post all of your old content again.

The blogging community as a whole is a very welcoming place but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some bloggers that will use underhanded tactics against you. They may attack your site in an attempt to shut you down and get rid of the competition. Your site might even come under attack from hackers who are just doing it for the sake of it. It seems stupid but that’s some people’s idea of fun.

If you’re selling products on your site, your site is definitely at risk. You’re holding the personal credit card details of your customers and people might attempt to steal them. That might be through hacking attacks or they may contact you posing as a customer and asking for information. That’s why it’s important that you have a good customer verification service in place. You can use Jumio's Netverify to reduce fraud by implementing a facial recognition service to identify customers. That way there’s no danger of somebody pretending to be a customer to get hold of sensitive information.

This isn’t something that people really think about when they’re writing a blog but it’s a very personal thing and you’re putting yourself out there. You’ve got to be careful what you put on the blog because it could damage your reputation and get you in some trouble. For example, if you’re putting things about your job on there, you might end up in trouble at work. Whenever you’re airing your life out in public you need to be very careful about what you’re putting out there. Always think about how people might perceive it and whether it could hurt your reputation in some way.

The financial risks are one of the dangers that you’ll have to face as a blogger. People often have a lot of misconceptions about blogging and they think that it doesn’t require any financial input. If you’re just running a small blog as a hobby, you don’t need to spend that much on it. But if you’re trying to run it as a business, you’re going to need to spend money. You’ll have to pay for templates for the site, hosting costs, camera equipment so you can get good quality photos on the blog, and your marketing costs as well. All of those costs can quickly add up and there’s no guarantee that you’re going to make a return on that so you’re taking a big risk.

If you decide to go full-time as a blogger, you’re not going to have a steady income and that is very risky. It’s important that you put money aside when you’re earning rather than just spending it all. Keep a good handle on your finances and make sure that you live within your means so you don’t run into trouble when you aren’t earning as much.

People don’t usually think of starting a blog as a particularly risky thing to do but it can. Being aware of these dangers from the start is the easiest way to make sure you don’t get in trouble.