Cybersecurity is a daily threat to your website: Behind the Business with The Port Web Design in Kennebunkport, ME

Cybersecurity is a daily threat to your website

Priscia Poirier says she approaches each day with the tenacity and ingenuity so often seen in solopreneurs. As the owner of The Port Web Design, Poirier creates websites for businesses across New England, with offices in Kennebunkport, Maine and Laconia, NH. She relies on a special blend of creativity and technical knowledge to give her clients the digital tools they need. But she believes it’s her ability to keep learning that’s kept her relevant in an ever-changing industry for nearly 20 years.

Poirier first explored web design in the early 2000s. With an eye for art and design, she longed to find a new venture that would challenge and inspire her. She decided to go back to school on the advice of a friend and in 2002, she took her first coding class in HTML. “I needed to do something else. I needed something interesting,” she remembers of that time.

She never looked back. When asked how the industry has changed, Poirier simply states, “It’s completely different. 20 years ago, you had to build your website in HTML. There was no other way. You had to code the design. That’s how we started. Then year after year, it changed. Now, we are in a completely different world because [Content Management Systems] let you do anything without touching the code too much. Which is important because it allows the client to manage their own website.”

This meant that Poirier had to find new ways to add value and keep up with the ever-growing web capabilities. “When you work with the internet, you have to be sure that you stay aware of any changes. The Internet is our base of knowledge and it evolves by the second,” Poirier explains. “You have to stay attentive to how the rules are changing. There are learning curves. But whether you’re comfortable with it or not, you must evolve.” She expanded her suite of services to include SEO optimization, web hosting, and on-demand technical support, perfect for small businesses that need expert support but don’t need an in-house web developer. 

Cyber security is the newest area of focus for Poirier, an issue that was almost non-existent 20 years ago. These days, many of her clients opt into her maintenance and support plans to protect against these threats–even customers with websites developed elsewhere will come to Poirier for support. She spends hours each month performing patches and system updates to protect against hacking, stating, “There’s no other way to protect a website from the dangers of the internet than keeping it updated and clean 24/7.”

Web design is not a 9-5 job, but that’s one of the things Poirier likes most about it. “This business is constant deadlines or something urgent to fix. You have to be available for anything that could happen,” she explains. “Even when I take a day off, I have my phone in case there’s a hosting emergency. If a site goes down, you have to be there to help.” She recalls the time that Google announced a new security requirement. She realized that every website she had built since 2002 would need new lines of code—sites that numbered in the hundreds. But to not do so would adversely affect each site’s search engine results and worse, prompt Google to display a security warning that could make business owners and customers uncomfortable using the site. Unwilling to allow a less-than-optimal experience for any of her clients, she stayed up for three days, coding each and every site until they were all compliant.

While a site’s functionality is critically important, it’s only half of the story. The design of the site, its look and feel, is what drives users to the site and helps businesses tell their stories. Poirier explains this begins with a deep understanding of the client. “I spend a lot of time listening to them, trying to understand exactly what they want and why they want it, what it is they want to accomplish on the site,” she explains. “Once the functions are understood, you must find the right inspiration for the design. You want it to reflect their personality, their character.” This can be the hardest part, like an artist facing a blank canvas or a writer with a blank page. “[My designs] are very personal to the client. Each one is unique to their business, their personality. It takes a lot of hours to create a professional website which is SEO ready, truly professional, and unique,” she explains in a tone both proud and enthusiastic.

When asked how she’s continued to thrive amidst so much change, Poirer’s answer is simple. “I love what I do. And I love a challenge. The constant challenges that happen in my job—literally daily—is what I like. You have to rebuild yourself every five minutes because what worked yesterday may not work today. You have to learn something new every day. You learn by chance, or because you’re really attentive to what’s going on. And it’s very exciting.”

For more information about The Port Web Design, check out their BBB Business Profile. To learn more about BBB and read more stories like this, visit Behind the Business Stories.