One of the most common issues faced by internet marketers that seriously cuts into profits is the issue of unauthorized downloads from their download pages and download directories.
Weeks ago, I was searching for a popular eBook online which I do not want to disclose its name here.I started seaching Google by entering the name of the eBook. At Page 3 of the result page, I discovered a PDF document and open it in a new window. That was exactly the eBook I was searching for! The complete and original eBook, not a trial or demo – was sitting there for the world to download.
This is actually a product that sells for over $25 in the original website!!
Apparently, it made me believe that one of the reasons digital theft is so prevalent is simply because... its so EASY! I'm not encouraging digital theft of any kind. But would YOU shell out $25 for a product that everyone can 'legally' download off the 3rd page of Google?
Most people would just shrug their shoulders, hit the save button and thank their lucky stars.
One of the problems with selling digital products online is that it is so SIMPLE to do. So now everyone and their grandmother wants to do it.
But most newbies have no idea that it requires only a few simple steps to ensure a moderate degree of security for your downloads. Therefore, here I've outlined the five most BASIC security steps that anyone selling digital products online must take.
These will take you only a few minutes to do, and you do not need any special software or programming knowledge.
1. ZIP THE PRODUCT FILE
The biggest problem arises when sellers store their downloads as PDF documents, as in my experience above. Now you should know that Google, Altavista and many other search engines can read and list PDF files. It gets worse. Google also converts your PDF files into HTML documents. So ordinary browsers not only have access to your PDF file, but - horror of horrors - they can download your SOURCE FILE as well!!
The next logical step is for them to customize it with their own links, compile it and sell it or give it away.
A simple way of keeping your files out of the reach of spiders is to upload them as a zip file. Search engines cannot look inside zip files (yet) and list their contents.
2. CREATE AN INDEX.HTML FILE
Some unscrupulous people will visit an ecommerce site then add a simple /download or /downloads to the end of the URL and if the owner hasn't been a little smart then the result will be a page containing hyperlinks directly to the downloadable files.
The way to stop this is to add a simple index.htm or index.html file to the directory. Browsers automatically look for these files and load them if they are present. That way, if someone goes to the directory, whatever you have put on that page will appear rather than the directory contents… mine has a blank page. It's probably also a good idea to name the directory something completely obscure, you could give the directory some completely screwy name like sy9c45jhs or whatever that no-one would ever guess would be a download directory. A combination of these two is probably a good idea just in case someone has a way of working around the index page.
3. SHOW PEEPING TOMS THE EXIT
You can use a simple script to redirect peeping Toms back to your home page.
Here's the easiest way to do it using what it called a "meta refresh tag." Add it between the Header tags like this.
Just replace my URL with your own in the example above and paste it into the head of your document (before your text).
4. SPIDER-PROOF YOUR DOWNLOAD PAGES
To prevent search engine spiders from reading and listing the download pages that link to your eBooks add the tag below in the head of the document.
This "Robot" tag tells the spider that this page is not to be spidered or indexed. As a result it should never show up on a search.
5. CHANGE YOUR DOWNLOAD LINKS OFTEN
There are many ways your download link can be spread over forum, social book marking website etc. To overcome this problem you need software that issues a temporary download link that is only active for a certain period of time or a certain number of downloads. Some software like Smartdd can be useful.
I hope this article can help you understand how unauthorized downloads occur and how to protect your products from the methods used.