Practical guides for growing US businesses.

Small Business Cybersecurity Guide

Start with the controls that reduce the most common business risks: unique passwords stored in a business password manager, multifactor authentication, timely software updates, protected backups, limited administrator access, and a clear process for reporting suspicious messages.

• Document critical systems, accounts, vendors, and data.
• Require MFA for email, cloud, finance, and administrative accounts.
• Keep tested backups that are separated from everyday user access.
• Train employees to report suspicious activity quickly.
• Create a simple incident contact and escalation plan.

This guide is general information, not a guarantee of security or legal compliance.

Managed IT Readiness Checklist

Managed support becomes useful when recurring issues, undocumented systems, inconsistent access, vendor confusion, or delayed updates begin to affect productivity and risk.

• List users, devices, locations, software, internet providers, and vendors.
• Identify who owns account creation, access changes, backups, and renewals.
• Document recurring problems and business-critical systems.
• Define support priorities, communication methods, and expected response arrangements.
• Review the current security, backup, and recovery position before transition.

Website Redesign Planning Guide

A redesign should solve business and user problems, not only change visual style. Begin with goals, audiences, services, conversion paths, required integrations, content ownership, accessibility, search visibility, and post-launch maintenance.

• Agree on measurable goals and primary calls to action.
• Inventory existing pages, content, forms, analytics, and redirects.
• Plan mobile layouts, keyboard access, readable contrast, and useful alt text.
• Protect search visibility with canonical URLs, redirects, metadata, and a sitemap.
• Assign responsibility for updates, backups, security, and monitoring after launch.

Getting MFA Right

Prioritize email, financial systems, cloud administration, remote access, and password managers. Prefer phishing-resistant methods where available, maintain recovery procedures, and avoid sharing authentication codes.

• Enforce MFA through central policy rather than relying only on user choice.
• Use separate administrator accounts for privileged work.
• Keep recovery codes secured and document account recovery ownership.
• Review sign-in logs and remove inactive accounts.

Technology Onboarding Checklist

Consistent onboarding and offboarding reduce delays and prevent unnecessary access. Use role-based checklists covering account creation, device preparation, security training, software access, documentation, and timely access removal.

• Obtain manager approval for systems and permission levels.
• Issue individual accounts; do not share credentials.
• Record assigned devices and recovery details.
• Schedule access review and offboarding dates.
• Remove access promptly when employment or contractor access ends.

Website Performance Basics

Fast pages improve usability and reduce unnecessary data use. Compress and correctly size images, minimize blocking scripts, cache static assets, use reliable hosting, monitor errors, and test on real mobile connections.

• Use modern image formats and explicit image dimensions.
• Load noncritical images and scripts only when needed.
• Keep third-party scripts limited and documented.
• Test forms, navigation, and important pages after every deployment.
• Monitor uptime and maintain tested backups.