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Have you received an alarming email about your website? You are not alone. My inbox is always getting hit with something new every couple of minutes. We often see emails from “marketers“ that want to point out something wrong with our website. The way you deal with it can save you time and stress.
Don‘t panic! Decide if it is legitimate or not.
Chances are, your email is not unique. They send out thousands of these blanket emails to people trying to see if someone takes the bait. If you take a closer look, you will be able to recognize if that email is legitimate or not. Here are some simple steps that are telltale signs of a spam email:
- Do they address you as your domain name, e.g., agmsolutions.com, or business name?
- Are there typos and misspellings throughout the email body and/or subject line?
- Is their email a mass email client like gmail.com, outlook.com, or something else where anyone can create an account?
If your answer is yes, chances are you have nothing to worry about.
Keep in mind that if your website is more than 2-3 years old, you can expect that it may not meet the cut with current advancements in technology, but that is no need to think your site is garbage. Most of the time, our developers can implement enhancements to tackle the areas it lacks, while other times, the expense for improvements outweighs the cost of a redesign. It depends upon how old your website is and what has changed since it was developed.
The game maker in the industry is Google. Among other ways to analyze a website, we utilize Google Dev Tools to help grade websites and decide where they fall short from a search engine optimization and user experience point of view.
Beware of Viruses From Copyright
Infringement Spam Form Submissions
More recently, we‘ve seen copyright spam campaigns that are coming into website forms. In these form result emails, the individual is threatening legal action for copyright infringement of their intellectual property. We have seen these come to various websites from a person named Mel, Melanka, Melanie, Melibella, Melia, Mellie, Melecia, etc., and I am sure there are many more. They typically introduce themself as a photographer or illustrator and tell you that they discovered their images on your website. Their goal is to get you to click on the link and download a virus to your computer.
Here is a great example of their work:
Hi,
This is Melecia and I am a certified photographer.
I was discouraged, putting it lightly, when I saw my images at your website. If you use a copyrighted image without an owner’s license, you must know that you could be sued by the copyright owner.
It’s not legal to use stolen images and it’s so сheap!
See this document with the links to my images you used at agmsolutions.com and my earlier publications to get the evidence of my legal copyrights.
Download it right now and check this out for yourself: [Insert Spammy Virus Link Here]
If you don’t delete the images mentioned in the file above during the next few days, I’ll file a complaint on you to your hosting provider stating that my copyrights have been severely infringed and I am trying to protect my intellectual property.
And if it doesn’t help, trust me I am going to take legal action against you! And I will not bother myself to let you know of it in advance.
One way around this is to know where your assets are from. If you are building a site on your own, know that images and graphics come at a price. There are royalty–free sites out there where you can get graphics and images for free. However, if you didn‘t purchase it, it may not be licensed to you. When you work with an agency or purchase licensing on your own through Shutterstock, Adobe, iStock, etc., you have proof of the image license within your account.
The Importance of Image Licensing
We always hold on to a record of image licenses. You never know when you will be required to recall an image license from decades past, and it does happen. We have had to supply image licenses because a photographer pulled their collection from iStock. Luckily, when their lawyer reached out, we had a record from 10 years back and could prove that we had the right to use them. We were at ease because we had that record, and so was our client.
Another way around this is to hire a photographer to capture real images at your location. Just make sure you are also being given commercial copyright to the images. We often suggest a photography session to our clients because an image speaks a thousand words. When you see a stock photo on a site, it is quite apparent. Today, people want an authentic experience and expect it when they visit your site and see your marketing.
If you have questions about your site being up to speed with today‘s technology or you want to learn more about our photography services, get in touch by clicking here. We look forward to improving your company‘s image and advancing your marketing.
