Please note this article was first published in 25 Jan 2010. Its content may now be out of date. We recommend taking a look at more recent website building blog posts or check out our comprehensive support pages. If you are looking for information on our 14 day free website builder trial we have a large number of webpages that guide you throug the process.
Sadly, we’re not talking about Chocolate Chip or Fruit Shortcake here…. No, the cookies we’re going to talk about are Internet Cookies or Computer Cookies or more commonly referred to as just Cookies. Cookies are small files of data, which are stored on your computer whenever you open a new webpage on a website. They’re designed to grab and hold data or information specific to a visitor and website for a number of reasons. Cookies can be beneficial to both the website visitor and the website builder. They can make browsing the internet more convenient, but some can be very intrusive and benefit only the issuer.
There are two kinds of Internet cookies and they are permanent or temporary. Permanent cookies or Persistent cookies, save information for either your benefit or the issuers and can remain on your computer for years. Temporary cookies are saved to the browser memory but then disappear at the end of each browsing session.
Their uses vary but generally they make internet life easier for both the visitor and the website builder. The friendly helpful Cookies include those, which are created when you visit a website, which requires you to register or become a member. A Cookie will keep the information for your registration permanently stored so that the next time you visit, you’ll instantly be recognized and can easily log back into the site. When your Internet Browser requests a Web page, it will scan your hard drive for any cookies that match the site’s address. If it finds any related cookies, this will trigger open the server’s counterpart and provide the necessary registration information to help you log in quickly and easily.
If you customize or personalize a page or facility on a website, a cookie will be created to store your preferences so that the next time you visit the site, your preferences will automatically be loaded.
Some Internet cookies are used to smooth the process of shopping online. For example, if you have to leave a shopping session for some reason, your selected items will be saved and restored to a cart the next time you go back to the site.
Some of the less friendly, more intrusive cookies include those used for Web profiling. For instance, sometimes, every time you click your mouse, while looking through the pages of a website could be recorded into the visitor’s unique cookie log, saved as record of that person’s surfing habits. Everey time you revisit the site, more data is added to the cookie. If you provide personal information to the same site, this will then be associated with the existing profile.
Even less friendly, indeed more intrusive, are profiling cookies, which are used for marketing purposes. Thousands of popular websites can hide third-party Internet cookies, allowing a marketer to track a visitors activity across a number of websites. The amount of information, which can be gathered about someones surfing habits is endless. This profiling information includes statistical data such as age, gender, location, religious interests, political opinions, health problems, hobbies, marital status, lifestyle choices, property assets, investment info and lots of other personal life information, which can then be used for marketing purposes to target specific audiences.
There’s a lot of concern about security and privacy on the internet. Cookies don’t pose a threat to privacy in themselves, as they can only be used to store information that the user has provided voluntarily or that the web server has already. If you’re worried that the information you’ve provided to a website won’t be treated confidentially then you should question whether you actually need to provide that information at all
Yes you can….In your Internet Browser, you can access the area which controls the activity of cookies by clicking the Tools button in your main browser menu. Go down to Options / Internet Options, then click the Privacy / Site Controls tab (the tab names will differ between the various browsers). Here you can adjust the settings to block or allow various categories of cookie.
You can also delete Cookies here but keep in mind that if you delete all the cookies on your computer, you may have to re-enter information on some website, which was previously stored in their cookies.
Please remember, this article was first published 25/01/2010. The content may be out of date and you cannot post comments any more. Please check out our new blog.
We have been in business since 2003. Back when the founders of Facebook were still in college, we were writing code and helping our users create great websites.
If you need help, why not check out our huge selection of videos, step-by-step guides and knowledge papers.
We have helped many thousands of our customers create great looking websites. Take a look at a few examples, created using our website builder.
These days, websites without background videos run the risk of appearing old-fashioned. Even dinosaurish,
There’s nothing wrong with dinosaurs, or with looking like one. Dinosaurs are cool. Unless they’re chasing you of course.
But our new background videos have landed, exploded and changed the game. They have wiped out the old standards for beautiful websites, and have replaced them with a new standard that will leave all other websites looking like fossils.
Luckily, both our existing clients and our new ones have access to this brilliant new feature we’ve introduced, and we’d like to share its benefits with you today.
A superhero is only super because he or she stands out amongst the crowd. If we were a planet of flying, teleporting, time-freezing super-strong aliens, then we wouldn’t think there was anything super about us. When it comes to using formatting methods such as bold, italics, capitals or centering, all of these little text-enhancing superheroes will only stand out if they are used sparingly, in the right place, and when absolutely necessary…
Reviews, testimonials, recommendations – we all seek reassurance in them. We might even skip past the good ones just to see if there are any bad ones.Other people are sources of information for us. They can tell us whether this product or service is actually any good or not. Reading their testimonials builds trust in your business.
If I have multiple domain names, will my website rank better on the search engines? Will I be more likely to draw in extra traffic? Will my website become a supercharged powerhouse bursting with domain names that will become a magnet for new business? The answer might not be quite as positive as you would expect, but hopefully we can answer your questions during this article…
Choosing a domain name for your new business may not be as simple as you think. Most people just use their company name, but unless your branding is well recognised, this may work against you…
Is it possible for your business website to look too good? Too polished? Too slick? Too posh?
Perhaps it depends on how slick and posh you already are.
“If a customer fills out a form and adds their email address, what can I do with it?” This is a terrible question, asked by non-GDPR compliant cavemen and cavewoman who still think it’s OK to treat other people’s info as if it’s their own…
You are building a GDPR-friendly email list, and now you want to start sending out newsletters, the professional way. Where do you start?
“Don’t sell your product. Solve their problems.” Mark Cuban’s wise words sum up the art of selling – it is about helping people, fixing problems and improving the lives of others…
iF we’re honest, not many people will accuse you of clownery for not having a proper business email address. But they might not call you professional either…
Building a professional website to grow your business should be easy and seamless from start to end. We offer to build your business website for you, in four easy steps…
When July 2018 hits, Google Chrome will make sure a strong warning will pop up on any website that has not yet updated from “http” to “https”. The warning will include something along the lines of “Website Not Secure”. Here’s how to avoid it.
We are the DotGO: where everything is included and everything is managed for you, all at no extra cost.
We design websites to grow your business and wow your customers.
We are a UK company filled with passionate website designers and clever writers.
Friendly, professional and fast customer service is at the heart of everything we do. Our designers and unique technology make your website quick, responsive and secure, giving you the best chance of ranking well on Google.
If you need a shop, our own powerful ecommerce platform integrates beautifully. We train you to use our simple tools to update your website yourself. Our UK support team are on hand to provide sensible support and advice whenever you need it. We even power your professional email service, so you stay in contact with your customers by phone, tablet or computer.
Oh, and the best bit? It's cheaper than you may think, and we can get started right now.