Tag: Quick Digital

Top 10 local search insights of 2016

Top 10 local search insights of 2016 by Wesley Land.  Available from <http://searchengineland.com/top-10-local-search-insights-2016-264163> [December 5, 2016 at 11:50 am]

Columnist Wesley Young of the Local Search Association looks back at 2016 to find the top 10 insights that local search marketers should remember in planning for the year ahead.

As 2016 comes to a close and we begin planning for next year’s goals and budgets in earnest, it is prudent to remember to take time for reflection. Learning from successes experienced and mistakes made helps you set goals that will move you forward and plan for ways to get there.

To help remind you of some of the most important lessons learned this past year, below are my Top 10 Insights from 2016. In full disclosure, it’s my Top 10 list and thus is largely derived from the articles I wrote this year and statistics cited therein, but at least you’ll know you won’t find this list anywhere else!  Here we go (in no particular order):

1. Sometimes simple is better than the best

My most-read article this year was “10 Ways to Simplify Your Local Search Marketing Strategy.” The space has gotten so crowded with marketing products, platforms and media that it is overwhelming even the experts. Think of what that means to the SMB. The attempt to understand, select and effectively utilize marketing media and technology is a struggle for most local business owners.

Sometimes, the best solution for an SMB (small to medium-sized business) isn’t what has the greatest potential for return. Rather it might be the one that they can work with most easily, manage within their time and budget and get a reasonable and secure return. There is value in simplicity and clarity.

2. Speed kills (like, totally slays it, dude)

Speed is a highly valued commodity. Consumers want it and bail when faced with slow sites. Google wants it to make sure consumers are happy and stay on the web instead of going to competitors’ app platforms. Google has even made it a ranking factor for its mobile search algorithm. So it was a huge surprise to learn that retail mobile sites are trending slower, with median load times of 4.33 seconds in 2013, to 4.8 seconds in 2014, to 5.5 seconds in 2015.

The slowdown is a result of heavier data load as a result of consumer appetite for content like graphics and video. But each second lost in load speed has detrimental effects on bounce rate, conversion rate and page views.

Local businesses need to be aware of and monitor how updating websites, adding content and taking other actions intended to improve the user experience may actually slow down the site and have the opposite effect. Fortunately, there are solutions for speeding up the consumer experience, and those who make the appropriate adjustments can zip ahead of the competition.

3. Changes in the traditional search model will challenge the status quo

For years, search has been dominated by the directory model — listings of businesses categorized by various filters and containing basic NAP data and perhaps some enhanced information such as reviews.

New changes are coming in the form of both media and model. In one year, voice search has gone from being a blip on the radar to a game-changer in search volume. The incredible growth is being fueled by better voice recognition to devices exclusively designed for voice interaction. The impact is significant, requiring a reexamination as to what keywords are used and how greater insight into intent may be derived.

The traditional model of “display” of results is also being challenged by creative thinkers. Search models, such as that of Thumbtack, which provides greater utility to consumers and higher-quality leads to local businesses, cannot be ignored.

Thumbtack seeks more details about what consumers need via a new customer intake questionnaire and passes that on to businesses who can identify the value of that lead and only pay for it when submitting a competing bid for the job. Personal note: I hired my first Thumbtack service provider during the writing of this article, and it worked out great.

These new media and models are potentially a threat to more traditional search and marketing providers who risk losing out if they don’t adjust.

4. Third-party listings are becoming de facto home pages

Company websites have consistently led the charts in ratings for media sources most likely to be relied upon when shopping for local goods and services. Yet as third-party listings make local business profiles more robust and rich with information, fewer consumers feel the need to click through. That makes managing these third-party listings ever more important — but businesses are not keeping up.

First, the majority of local businesses are not claiming the free profiles available on sites like Google My Business (56 percent have not claimed their listing), Yelp (66 percent) and Yahoo, YP.com, Bing and the BBB, all of which have unclaimed listings rates of around 80 percent or more. Even though these are tasks that the small business can do on their own, it behooves marketers to make sure to cover the basics when talking to both existing and prospective clients.

Second, those listings need to be actively managed, and one element often overlooked is profile images. Consumers respond to images at a rate that cannot be ignored. Ninety-three percent of the most engaging Facebook posts were photos, and content with images are shared three times more than those without.

Further, 46 percent of consumers felt website design was the top criterion for deciding whether a company is credible or not, and with these third-party listings being used like de facto home pages, profile images on those sites have a big impact on a local business’s reputation, brand and identity.

But on Google, you can’t just set it and forget it. Google bots unpredictably, and without any consistency, change profile images across devices and platform. Make sure you check back frequently to ensure your profile image reflects the identity you want to convey.

5. Traditional media is still relevant in the digital age

While digital media gets all the attention because of its growth, traditional media is hanging surprisingly tough. Many SMBs are loath to get rid of their print media marketing, in large part because it’s the way they’ve traditionally reached their established customers. And returning customers are valuable.

Google reports that it costs five to ten times more to attract a new customer than it does to retain an old one. Whether it be a local business trying to keep customers or a marketer retaining SMB advertisers, losing a customer to churn hurts.

And traditional marketing still delivers a meaningful volume of business. With the proliferation of media channels, platforms and devices, audience reach has been heavily diluted in all but a few dominant channels. So reaching your existing customers via traditional media remains important and cost-effective.

6. Non-local consumers are very valuable to local search

Local search and location-based marketing typically focus on the local audience, a strategy that seems completely logical. However, a significant portion of revenue for local businesses actually comes from non-local customers.

According to a case study I did on my hometown of Frisco, Texas (population 140,000), 33 percent of business to local storefronts comes from out-of-town visitors. Failing to account for this significant share of revenue could make the difference between thriving and flailing. And treating them the same as locals in your search marketing strategy is a mistake.

Non-local customers are more likely to use broad discovery search, so they will use different keywords from the ones local customers use. That will also impact the importance of some typical metrics used to measure the success of campaigns, such as page-one search ranking and CTR. So make sure to have a strategy to reach non-local customers.

7. Your largest clients may be at risk from co-op competitors

A lot of co-op funds are going unused: estimates range from $14 to $35 billion every year. That’s not particularly new news. But as a result, new players and new technologies are emerging to try to claim those funds. And they are attracting the attention of brands who see opportunities for new efficiencies and increased return over traditional methods, which in turn is leading to a change in the way brands are controlling payouts. These changes often favor the new players and technologies.

Traditional agency users of co-op with brand clients need to be aware of this threat — that they may soon not be competitive to some of their largest and best clients when compared to the new players.

These traditional players must understand how the market is changing and make adjustments that demonstrate their services provide value and quality and prove that they understand new co-op media such as search and display.

8. Short and fractured attention spans demand changes to the way we serve content

It’s tempting to find where your audience is spending time and try to meet them there. But the path to purchase has become so complex that you may end up chasing and never catching your customer. Consumers today reference many different media and information sources spread across various devices, often whenever they can find spare moments and gaps in busy schedules.

Google recorded an 18 percent decline in time spent per website this year. That likely translates across all media channels, as time spent is diluted across the increasing number of outlets and the way we access content changes. Google also reported that 91 percent look up information while in the middle of a task, and 82 percent consult phones while standing in a store.

Thus, content must be concise and to the point, convey key and relevant information and educate the user with information designed to make decisions. Failure to do so will quickly lose buyers, as 33 percent of mobile users switch to a competitor that does provide helpful information, and 43 percent ignore those who don’t.

9. Offline shopping experiences that don’t match your online one are problematic

Much of the change that is taking place in the marketplace is focused on the online experience, as new technologies, social media, graphics, video and slick user interfaces draw the attention of both audiences and advertisers. E-commerce also keeps humming along with upgrades to the payment systems that help with seamless online checkout processes and speedy mobile payments.

But offline purchases still rule. And unfortunately for many customers who buy in-store, there is a distinct disparity between the online experience getting you to a store and the offline in-store visit.

Online to offline isn’t just about attribution. The offline experience needs to be a continuum of previous online actions.  Ask questions, or if possible, pull up user accounts or tracked online activity to determine what has already been done by the customer. Pick up where the customer left off, or help identify areas of need that remain in order to make a decision. Use of technology in the store that is similar to that used by the consumer online can help bridge the gap.

Failing to upgrade your in-store experience to match that of your business’s online one risks frustrating your buyer. Make sure the two complement each other and that inventory, employee training and technology are not siloed into online/offline categories.

10. Reviews reflect your online reputation, whether you like it or not

I’ve defined “reputation” as follows:

Your reputation is not what people tell you they think of you; it’s what they say about you when you’re not around.

And consumers do that to local businesses every day, through numerous review outlets.

Reviews are now a fundamental part of the buying decision for many products and services. Whichever way you dice it, the numbers are significant. One study shows 91 percent of consumers rely on reviews regularly or at least occasionally to inform their purchase decisions. Another finds that reviews impact decisions for 67 percent of consumers.

Yet many small businesses are bitter about negative reviews. While the emotion is understandable, the above numbers reveal that ignoring review sites out of spite is a battle you won’t win and can’t practically do — reviews are now incorporated broadly across all forms of media.

Instead, reviews must be faced head-on, and there are some encouraging numbers there, too. Some say 70 percent of consumers will leave a review when asked, while others say 90 percent. Yet as few as seven percent are asked to do so. Thus there is a big opportunity to get positive reviews for your business across the web, not just on Yelp, but also on Google, TripAdvisor, Yellow Pages sites and other directory listings.

Conclusion

And there you have it — my top 10 insights for 2016. Some may not seem particularly revealing in terms of an eye-opening “wow” factor, but then again, it’s surprising how many times the obvious is overlooked, ignored or even deliberately countered. So I hope you’ve had a successful and rewarding 2016 and that you can use even a few of these tips for your planning in continuing that success in the year to come.

Top 10 local search insights of 2016 by Wesley Land.  Available from <http://searchengineland.com/top-10-local-search-insights-2016-264163> [December 5, 2016 at 11:50 am]

How to Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks

How to Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks  by Kevin Graham  Available from <https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/protect-cyber-attacks> [ December 7, 2016]

Remember last month when hackers were briefly able to disrupt service to popular websites such as Netflix, Twitter, Spotify and Etsy for several hours? Whatever their motivations, there’s no doubt the hackers had a plan and were skilled. Still, even when something happens that affects large portions of the internet, there are things we can learn to help protect ourselves as individuals now and in the future.

As we enter a time of year when everyone’s going to be doing a lot of online shopping, we thought we would give you some tips to help you keep your information secure. Let’s start by going over exactly what happened last month and what we can learn from it.

Anatomy of an Internet Takedown

So what exactly took down so many websites last month? It was something called a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. The attackers picked a major internet hosting service on the East Coast and sent a bunch of traffic to the sites it hosted – so much that it overloaded the servers.

The first job of any internet server is to take your request (to go to, say, QuickenLoans.com) and translate that into a request the computer can understand. You type in your web address, and the computer turns what you typed into a series of numbers called an internet protocol (IP) address. In your web browser, when you enter QuickenLoans.com, the server goes and looks up the IP address associated with that domain, maybe 10.168.64.9, and gets you to the right place. It’s like a giant phonebook, except we don’t throw it out as soon as it arrives.

Normally, all this traffic gets routed, and everything goes smoothly. When a server gets thousands of requests to go to a particular website, though, it creates a traffic jam. The server is overloaded, and the site is unreachable until the host is able to identify the attack and take mitigating measures. But what measures did they take?

We have a thousand devices connected to the internet these days. It’s not just computers, but also DVRs, webcams and even our thermostats. The attackers were able to get into these newly internet-enabled devices and use them to send a bunch of traffic to sites and overload the servers. I don’t mean to say that the webcam in the nursery was sending a request to Netflix to watch “Zootopia.” This was unsophisticated nonsense traffic – uploads and downloads meant purely to flood the servers. There’s been lots of really good, detailed analyses of what happened in the attack, but what’s more helpful for those of us trying to protect ourselves is knowing exactly how they did it.

Tyranny of the Default

So what was the weak point in all of these devices that allowed them to be so easily taken over? No one ever changed the password.

Most of these internet-connected appliances have a default password listed in the manual so you can easily get them set up. Unfortunately, many people never think to change the password. If you find yourself in this situation, follow your device’s instructions to get back into the settings and change the password if possible.

In some instances, depending on the sophistication (or lack thereof) of a particular device, there may not be a way to change the default. In these instances, manufacturers will sometimes send updates that patch the software and help to secure the device. Always run these updates, particularly if they mention anything about fixing bugs or improving security.

As we enter the holiday season and you’re looking at getting that new flat-screen TV on Cyber Monday, make sure you’re using strong passwords. You can even get online password generators like LastPass or 1Password that will enable you to have one password that unlocks all your accounts but still maintains the security of having many different passwords.

Secure Your Wi-Fi

Securing your internet connection is key if you want to keep your internet browsing to yourself. Without a secured connection, hackers have the opportunity to get on the network and put themselves between you and your hotspot or router. Instead of going directly to your connection point, your data goes through the hacker first, and they get a peek at what you’re doing before your data goes on to its ultimate destination. Depending on how your sharing settings are configured, a nefarious actor may also be able to get malware onto your computer.

The level of encryption used can be changed, and it’s up to you. At the very least, your router should be password-protected.

Security in Public

The other thing you should know is how to take steps to secure yourself in public. When you need to check your bank account, sometimes the only available connection is the coffee shop.

When you find yourself in these situations, the most important thing to remember is that websites asking for sensitive information should be secured and encrypting your data as it’s passed through. While someone with malicious intent might still be able to see your activity, usernames, passwords and credit card numbers, it usually ends up looking like unintelligible gobbledygook unless it can be decrypted. Most hackers don’t want to take the time and effort to do this.

How do you know if you’re on a secure site? In the address bar, you should see a green HTTPS mark at the beginning of the web address. If you choose, you can also click on this mark to see who owns the security certificate and make sure you’re giving your information to the right people.

It’s always a good idea to check for the secured symbol whenever you’re putting in sensitive information like credit card numbers. Here’s what it looks like:

You should also make sure that any time you log into a public connection, you select the public option when you connect. Your operating system will put certain security protocols in place that you might not need for a home network – just to give you a little more protection. A lot of the settings have to do with your ability to share files on the network.

Device and App Permissions

While we’re on security, it’s a good time to talk about the smart phones that now hold the keys to so much of our lives. Your phone is equal parts Rolodex, wallet, health information repository and camera. If the wrong person were to get ahold of all that, it could cause you a serious headache.

With that in mind, you should take some reasonable precautions to protect your phone from prying eyes.

First, make sure you set a passcode on your phone. Not only will this prevent your little sister from getting into your phone, but on newer iPhones, setting a passcode automatically encrypts the data against anyone who doesn’t have your code or fingerprint. By default, this is a four-digit numerical password, but you have the option to switch to a longer alphanumeric key.

Since device manufacturers have much more control over the look of the Android interface, the name of your encryption setting may vary. That said, it should be with your security settings. If encryption isn’t enabled by default on your device, there are some things you should be aware of before going through with the process.

Be sure you know the permission you’re giving apps when you use them. If you’re on iOS or newer versions of Android, your phone will ask you permission before accessing something like your photos, camera or contacts. It can be tempting to answer yes to everything so the app stops bugging you. I’ve been guilty of this, too. If you’ve ever given an app access to something and later regretted it, there are ways to reverse it.

If you go into your iPhone’s privacy settings, you can control which apps have access to your location, your media library, and your health and fitness data, among other items. Android versions Marshmallow and up include the option to control the permissions under the apps tab of your settings.

In older versions of Android, the permissions were listed when you went to install the app. Unfortunately, you don’t have control over individual permissions by default.

Finally, one special note regarding Android: In addition to installing apps from the Google Play Store, you have the option of installing apps from third parties. This is OK if you know what you’re doing, but if you’re not careful, it opens your phone up to malware. You can disable this option in your security settings.

Depending on the types of things you do on your phone, you might want to limit what gets backed up to the internet and keep local control on your phone. There’s always a bit of a push-pull relationship between security and convenience. You have to decide what works for you.

These basic security measures are important because they can help you avoid the hassle and inconvenience associated with identity theft.

How to Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks  by Kevin Graham  Available from <https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/protect-cyber-attacks> [ December 7, 2016]

Safety Tips For Online Shopping

Safety Tips For Online Shopping.  Available from <http://asianetindia.com/safety-tips-for-online-shopping/> [December 07, 2016]

E-commerce or shopping online provides a exit. Given the near universal accessibility to Internet connectivity, consumers save your time and efforts by internet shopping. More and more merchants are realising the enormous potential from the medium of Internet and therefore are gearing up to present products and services.As the potential of internet shopping is being grasped, the potential for loss are going up too, particularly for consumers. Sadly, many online shoppers disregard the pitfalls , nor follow even minimum risk protection norms. If anything, buying online frauds tend to be more dangerous, because in the event the security is breached, fraudsters can siphon off a lot of cash without the victim realising it.Here are some safety tips for online shopping.

Safety tips for online shopping are:

1.Link Of A Website: Avoid gonna an shopping online site by having a link or pop-ups, howsoever interesting the offers are. Always type the web page address into your address bar. Be wary of tempting offers, because they may be from fraudsters who’ve created a fake site.

2. Look For The Image Of A Lock At The Bottom Right Corner: To make sure your site is safe, search for the image of the closed now you should the browser window. Click on the icon and be sure the security certification is displayed. You are prone to identity theft when you’re entering your details on a spoofed site.

3.Check Privacy Policy: Are you sure the seller of your website the place you have given personal details isn’t sharing them others for cash? Check the Privacy Policy on the website to ensure that what the property owner will and won’t do with specifics about you.

4.Be Wary Of e-mails: You may get an e-mail that looks like it is from the vendor that you have shopped online. You could be asked for your very own information to “verify” the accounts or “clear-up” errors which may have occurred. Before responding, reconfirm with the vendor. Call up and ensure if necessary, or send a mail and act only as soon as you get a response.

5.Secured Programs: If the purchases are by having a debit or debit card, then make certain that you sign-up for that “verified by VISA” and/or “Master secured code program(s)”. Each transaction will be authorised only by you.

6.Anti-Spyware/Trojan Software: Make without doubt the latest version of antivirus, anti-spyware or anti-Trojan programs were installed on your PC or laptop and they are regularly updated.

These are the safety tips for online shopping.

Safety Tips For Online Shopping.  Available from <http://asianetindia.com/safety-tips-for-online-shopping/> [December 07, 2016]

3 Things Every Website Needs for a Better SEO Ranking

3 Things Every Website Needs for a Better SEO Ranking by Black Enterprise.  Available from <http://www.blackenterprise.com/technology/technology-tips/3-things-website-better-seo-ranking/> [Posted: December 1, 2016]

Some people understand SEO as managing a relationship with Google through Adwords, Search Console, and Analytics. Some understand it as the content you produce, as well as your ability to get other sites to link to that content. Others think SEO is some kind of black magic that only “SEO experts” can do.

In reality, SEO is a combination of content, technical fundamentals, user experience, and helping Google help you. When we help businesses and organizations with their SEO, we take a technical approach, helping them better implement fundamentals that Google and other major search engines recommend for a great user experience.

Consider these three technical fundamentals that your website needs for better search engine optimization:

Responsive Design

Every website we build now is responsive, meaning that the design and experience respond to the size of the user’s device. This provides an optimal layout for websites on mobile and tablet devices that may have otherwise shown up as the desktop version of a site.

In 2015, Google announced that it would use mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal in search results, making it “easier to get relevant, high-quality search results that are optimized for [users’] devices.”

Responsive design is the preferred way to develop a mobile website compared to a separate mobile site, as responsive design keeps your content at one URL, as opposed to mobile site URLs like “m.site.com.” If you’re building a new website, it needs to be responsive. If your current site is not mobile-friendly, you can retrofit responsiveness or install a mobile-friendly plugin. And, if you’re not sure your site is mobile-friendly, you can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to find out.

Security

Earlier this year, we added an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate to our site, making it completely secure. We don’t process transactions on our site or collect private user information, but switching to HTTPS still made a lot of sense. HTTPS, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, uses SSL to encrypt information being sent and ensures that information travels securely.

Not only does having an SSL certificate bring more security to our users while they’re on our site, it actually helps with SEO. In 2014, Google announced that they would begin using HTTPS as a ranking signal when displaying search results.

It’s not a big factor, but it does act as a sort of tie-breaker when there’s a lot of competition for placement. If two sites are otherwise similar and one of them is secure, it’s more likely to come out on top in search results than the non-secure site. We didn’t switch to HTTPS just for the SEO boost, but it’s definitely a bonus, in addition to all of the other benefits the security provides.

3 Things Every Website Needs for a Better SEO Ranking by Black Enterprise.  Available from <http://www.blackenterprise.com/technology/technology-tips/3-things-website-better-seo-ranking/> [Posted: December 1, 2016]

Advanced Facebook privacy and security tips

Advanced Facebook privacy and security tips by Matt Hanson, Nate Drake. Available from <http://www.in.techradar.com/how-to/internet/Advanced-Facebook-privacy-and-security-tips/articleshow/55706742.cms> [Nov 30, 2016, 05.25 PM IST] 

Facebook mines your personal data. Huge amounts of it. This is easy to do as people are now spending an average of an hour on day on the site sharing personal photos, having private conversations and playing popular games such as Candy Crush Saga.

However, Facebook contains powerful tools to prevent your data being mined by third parties or from unauthorised people seeing your photos and private messages, however most people do not make use of the built-in privacy tools.

We will show you how to secure your Facebook account as well as some best practices to prevent any breach of your privacy.

When you log in to your Facebook account from a shared or public PC, don’t tick ‘Keep me logged in’.

You’re also asked if you want to save the browser – click ‘Yes’ if you use the PC often, or ‘No’ if not – so you’re alerted if someone uses the PC to log into your account.

Facebook has made a number of recent changes to make its privacy settings easy to access. To view them, click the padlock on the top-right and a drop-down list of the most popular privacy settings is displayed.

You can also click ‘See More Settings’ for more privacy tools.

Go to Settings > Privacy on the desktop version of Facebook or choose “Privacy Shortcuts” from your mobile Facebook app.

Under “Who can see my stuff” you can change the audience for future posts e.g Friends Only. You can also limit the visibility of past posts to make sure only your confirmed friends can see them.

Under “Who can look me up?” change the settings for your e-mail and address and phone number to “Friends” to make sure only people you know can find your Facebook account by searching your e-mail address or phone number.

Finally choose “No” for the search engines option.

Now it’s time to check how much information you’re sharing – and with whom. Click the down arrow next to ‘Who can see my stuff ?’ and where it says ‘What do other people see on my Timeline?’ click ‘View As’.

Initially you’ll see what your profile looks like to people you don’t know. Scroll through your timeline and hide life events/photos if necessary by clicking on the edit tab at the top right.

By default information like your friends list is publicly available. On the desktop version of your website, go to your profile and click the edit tab at the top right to change privacy settings.

Change your friends list visibility to “Only Me” or “Friends only”. Do the same for other information like books, movies and so on.

Following on from the previous step, click “Edit” next to the “Who can add things to my Timeline?” to review what friends post on your timeline before it appears.

In the “Who can see things on my Timeline?” section you can control who sees posts you’ve been tagged in on your timeline. By default this is “Friends of Friends” but you can change this to “Friends Only”.

Finally in “How can I manage tags people add and tagging suggestions?” change the first setting to “On” to approve tags made by others to posts on your own timeline.

You don’t want strangers seeing all of your information. From the privacy menu, expand ‘Who can contact me?’ then under ‘Who can send me friend requests?’ you can choose only ‘Friends of Friends’ – people your friends know – to be able to send you a friend request.

From the privacy menu click ‘More Settings’, and next to where it says ‘Who can look you up using the email address you provided’ and ‘Who can look you up using the phone number you provided’ click ‘Edit’ and select ‘Friends’ or ‘Friends of Friends’ for both.

These settings won’t do much if people can type your name into Google and find your profile. From the same screen in step 7, where it says ‘Do you want other search engines to link to your Timeline’, click ‘Edit’ and uncheck ‘Let other search engines link to your Timeline’.

Facebook allows you to block other users as well as messages. People who are blocked cannot interact with you in any way, they will not see your timeline, cannot invite you to events, or message you.

Be warned this will not block them interacting with you if you both have the same game installed e.g Farmville.

The easiest way to block someone is to visit their profile, click the … button and choose “Block”. You can review who you have blocked and unblock them if you want by going to Settings > Blocking. If you unblock someone you cannot re-block them for 48 hours.

When on Facebook, look at the address bar of your web browser. If it says ‘https://’ you’re secure, but if it says ‘http://’, go to the ‘More Settings’ screen, click ‘Security’ on the left and next to ‘Secure browsing’ click ‘Edit’, then check the box to enable secure browsing.

Go to Account Settings > Security on either the mobile or desktop version of Facebook. Click “Login Alerts” and tick to choose whether to receive a Facebook notification or e-mail to your registered address. You will now receive an alert whenever someone logs into your account from a new location.

You can increase your security even further by also enabling “Login Approvals”. All first time logins from new locations or devices will now need to be confirmed with a code from your mobile version of Facebook or via SMS. Click “Code Generator” from within the mobile app for new codes.

You can get Facebook to send a login approval to your phone. When you approve it, you can use Facebook.

This can help prevent people using your Facebook account. Enable this by clicking ‘Edit’ next to ‘Use your phone as an extra layer of security’ in the Settings page.

If you’re worried you’re logged in somewhere you don’t want to be, such as a public PC, or are concerned someone else is logging in as you, click ‘Edit’ next to ‘Where you’re logged in’.

You’ll see where you’re logged in, and you can remotely log out by clicking ‘End activity’.

Lots of websites and apps let you sign up using your Facebook account. This often means the makers of these apps have access to your friends’ details, your details and can post things on Facebook as you, unless you don’t let them.

Always check what access they want.

If you play games like Farmville or Candy Crush Saga on the desktop version of Facebook, choose Settings > Apps.

Click the edit button next to each app to see what information you provide. Uncheck the blue tick next to each piece of information to remove it e.g your e-mail address.

Try to avoid adding friends on Facebook just for the sake of playing games with them. Although it’s technically a breach of Facebook Terms and Conditions, some users have a separate account just for playing games, so no personal information is shared with their real account.

There’s a number of scams on Facebook. A popular one presents itself as a shocking video that one of your friends has posted about.

Clicking the video allows the makers to post the ‘video’ on your behalf without your permission, compromising your account’s security.

If your account is ever hacked and the password changed, you can regain access by setting up 3-5 trusted contacts. These are people on your Facebook friends list who will each receive a security code. You can enter these codes to regain access to your account.

To set up Trusted Contacts on Facebook mobile go to Privacy Shortcuts > More Settings > Security < Trusted Contacts. On the desktop version choose Settings > Security > Your Trusted Contacts > Edit > Choose Trusted Contacts.

Enter the names of your trusted friends. They will receive a notification stating that you have added them as a Trusted Contact.

You may want to share some content with Facebook friends and not with others e.g your colleagues. To change what individual friends can see click the “Friends” icon on Facebook Mobile, or the “Friends” icon on the “Friends” tab on Facebook desktop, then “Add to Another List”.

Acquaintances by default can see everything you post but moving forward you can change the visibility for individual posts to “Friends except Acquaintances.” The “Restricted” setting is also extremely useful. Anyone in our “Restricted” list will remain Facebook friends with you but will only see posts you choose to make public.

Choose “New List” for specific groups e.g your swim team.

By default new posts on Facebook Mobile, your current location will be displayed. Disable this by clicking Privacy Shortcuts > More Settings > Location > Turn off Location Settings.

Mobile devices can usually also disable Location Services for the Facebook app from within the device settings, check with your manufacturer for more information.

If you don’t want anyone to know where you are including Facebook, consider using Facebook’s anonymous address. To use this you will need a tor-enabled browser.

Android users can use OrFox while desktop users can use the Tor Browser Bundle.

Now you’ve followed these steps, you can breathe a sigh of relief – your Facebook account is as secure as possible.

Make sure you pay attention to any notices telling you someone has logged in to your account – if you don’t recognise the device, change your password!

Advanced Facebook privacy and security tips by Matt Hanson, Nate Drake. Available from <http://www.in.techradar.com/how-to/internet/Advanced-Facebook-privacy-and-security-tips/articleshow/55706742.cms> [Nov 30, 2016, 05.25 PM IST]