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How to Protect Your Digital Downloads from Thieves
by Merle
Published on this site: May 31st, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
Selling ebooks and software online are big business these days.
The beauty of the transaction lies in the fact that there's no physical
product changing hands. What does this mean to you? No Inventory - Big Profits.
It's a simple process, really. Someone comes to your website, chooses
a product, makes the payment and is instantly given access to a
download page or link to access the product.
Although it sounds rather simple, there are a few steps you need
to think about in order to keep those who have not paid from stealing
something you've worked long and hard at creating.
Some of these tips are plain common sense but nevertheless,
are worth pointing out.
- Your HTML download page needs to include the robot tag of "no
follow" to keep the search engines from indexing it and including
its contents in their database for the entire world to see. It looks like this
and goes between your <head> tags:
<meta name="robots" content="no index, no follow">
- Make sure to name your download folders and files with strange
names and change them often. Don't use common names like downloads.htm
or thankyou.htm, as someone could go to the search engines and
easily find your documents in this way.
- Instead of uploading your files in .PDF or .EXE format, zip
them up before uploading them to your server. Search engines can
easily index .PDF docs but won't go near any file with a .ZIP
extension.
- Your actual download page should only contain the downloadable
file and not common links to other pages of your website. It needs
to stand alone in order to best protect itself.
- Make sure that your various website directories all contain
an index.htm file. Failure to do so will make it possible for
anyone to open your directories and gain access to every single
file inside. This is especially important for your download directory.
- Ask your web host about password protecting your download directories.
So maybe you've done some of these things and it's still not enough.
You need more serious protection. There are various scripts and
software you can download that will do the job for you.
A few options are:
- Redirect Pro: http://RedirectPro.com
For those who sell via PayPal, it uses the IPN feature of your
account to protect your files. This is a PHP script and is available
for $47.00
- CB Protect:
http://CBProtect.com
According to this site, four out of 10 copies of ebooks and software
are stolen. This service works with any payment processor and
will not allow your products to open if the person did not actually pay
for them. Lock as many files as you want. $2.95 will get you a
30 day trial; after that plan on paying $29.95 a month for this locking luxury.
- FlashPal Generator: http://FlashPalGenerator.com
Secures your Paypal processing by encoding your url's with Flash.
Includes a helpful video tutorial on how to use it. $67.00 out
the door.
- ClickBank Download Protector: http://tinyurl.com/zhbrv
A useful script if you sell using Clickbank. Supports multiple
download links and thank you pages and you can even set expiring
down load links. You can even collect the buyer's name and email
address on every purchase. $34.95
- PayPal IPN Download Protector: http://webmasterinabox.net/paypal_ipn.html
Another script by WebmasterinaBox.net. This one is for those using
Paypal to sell your digital downloads. Again, you have the ability
to set the expiration on your download links. $34.95
No matter what type of digital product you're selling on the Internet,
it's worth reviewing your delivery methods to make sure people aren't
walking away with your products. A few lost sales may not seem like
much, but over time they can really add up to a substantial loss
of revenue.
"Must Have Marketing Resources" Ebook by Merle
is loaded with valuable online resources you need to know about,
when it comes to running your web business. Get your copy now at
... http://mcebook.mcpromotions.com
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