Essential Tech tips for Christmas

As if you haven't got enough to do!  What with producing a zillion wreaths, wondering if you'll get enough orders once you've made said wreaths and trying to keep warm, Christmas is a tense time and then you have to think about all the tech side of things.

But it is VITAL you do.  Not just for safety but to look as professional as possible - and this is the week to do it.

Because the last thing you need is for your social media channels to crash so you lose your pages, your equipment letting you down, losing all your pictures or missing an email with a big order.

None of them take ages - even clearing out emails can be speeded up - but they are all ESSENTIAL.

These are our top 10 tips - if we've missed anything let us know! 

1: Set up two step authentication on your social media business pages – it helps stops hackers.

2: Always have a second person on your personal pages – if something happens to your email, they can rescue you.

3: Back up all pictures to a different device or, second-best, a different account

4: Clean your email box out of all the garbage so you don’t miss the important ones – if you sort it by senders name you can get rid of loads in nano seconds!!

5: Check all computers are defragged/cleaned and virus protected – ideally you should have a spare on standby.

6: Be aware of all the scams on FB ... those notifications saying your account is compromised are lethal and people direct messaging you about products using a link can be dodgy too!

7: Make sure you have a backup phone, it’s charged, and you know how to divert calls from your shop number in case it goes down!!

8: Check your website is up to date and all links are working – we see loads of out-of-date things and broken links!

9: Do not remove any pages – simply unpublish them – it helps SEO to keep everything even if it’s in the back.

10: Check your out of office message is up to date and make sure you include How to Order details and a link to your website.