A Free Viral Tell-A-Friend Script Could End Up Costing You!
If you have come to this page looking for a free viral tell-a-friend script then you won’t find a recommendation here! What you will find is a warning that you should probably take the time to read. If you don’t have the time but are looking for a script that works then read our post about the only secure tell-a-friend script that we recommend.
[note_box]The secure tell-a-friend script mentioned in the post (secure tell-a-friend script) has been discontinued. For an alternative product take a look at Viral Inviter.[/note_box]
I’d never knock anyone for trying to save money in their business but there are just some things with a free price tag that may end up costing your business so much more.
Here are the fundamental flaws to using a free tell-a-friend script and why you should avoid it:
1. Security
Security is one of the major concerns of computer owners and Internet users alike. Having a website that is safe and secure from any type of attack may become a security risk due to using a tell-a-friend script. Here’s the problem, even some high-profile and heavily promoted paid-for scripts have vulnerabilities that could leave you and your email address book open to attack; you can ‘Google it’ for more information about the security issues and I recommend that you do.
2. Script Updates
This is an issue that affects the WordPress plugins scene and is not exclusive to free scripts but it is a major concern when security, your website, and your integrity are at risk.
You see, you download the script, you install it and it works great. You start getting visitors to your website like never before, and then, SNAP, something breaks. You now need to contact the developer for some quick support and when you visit the homepage you discover that the developer has discontinued support due to ‘a lack of time’ or ‘new ventures’.
What happens if your main source of revenue is from your website and the tell-a-friend script needs an update that is NOT forth-coming and it ends up causing a misconfiguration of some kind, taking your website offline.
You see, no matter what way you look at things, if your website is attacked due to a vulnerability in the script or your email address book is used to send out mass spam email, or the script causes your site to develop errors and not load properly, you will only hurt your…
3. Reputation
Yes, your integrity and your reputation is explicitly tied into your website and service. If you are attacked by hackers or spammers that use a vulnerability in the script, then your customers may turn to you for an explanation.
I’ll leave this with you, but if you do use a free viral tell-a-friend script then make sure you thoroughly research the offering before installing it onto your website.
There is an alternative and the fact you’ve read this far probably means that you are seeking a solution. Karl recently wrote about a secure tell-a-friend script that was used by the StomperNet guys in a recent launch and it is the only one we would recommend you use.
Best wishes,
Kelly-Anne
Recently few of friends contacts are spammed by one tell a friend script lol
.-= chandan´s amazing last blog ..Whois script for personal pc with windows =-.
Spam is a real problem but at least spam filters are getting better at detecting it.