Monthly Archives: November 2012

Outlook – certificate security warning

Skip to solution 1 (turning off SSL) or solution 2 (changing your email collection address)

If you’re using Outlook and getting the the following error message when you try to collect your email, read below for a couple of possible solutions to the problem:

“The server you are connected to is using a security certificate that cannot be verified. The target principal name is incorrect””The target principle name is incorrect””Do you want to continue using this server?”

The cause of the problem

This problem is caused when the POP3 address (email collection) doesn’t match the SSL certificate that is being used.

The solution to the problem

Solution 1 means turning off the SSL encryption requirement, however, many SMTP servers require this SSL setting to successfully send your email so this may not be an option. Also, not using an encrypted connection may leave your correspondence vulnerable. If you’re unsure, get professional support. However, if you try this option as you can always change the setting back again afterwards:

Open Outlook
Click ‘Tools’ from the top menu
Select ‘account settings’ from the ‘tools’ menu
Highlight the email account you are having trouble with and press ‘Change’
From the ‘Change e-mail account’ page click on ‘More settings’
From the ‘Internet email settings’ page choose the ‘advanced’ tab
Un-tick the ‘This server requires authentication’ option
click ‘OK’, then ‘next’ then ‘Finish’

To undo the changes, follow the above instructions again

Turn off SSL

Solution 2 means changing the POP3 (or IMAP) collection address to match the certificate. If you’re not able to contact your ISP to get the correct settings you may be able to guess the right address:

Open Outlook
When the error message appears (as shown at the top of the page) take the name of the certificate from the error massage by selecting ‘view certificate’, for example, in this instance it’s ‘*.hosts.co.uk’
close the error dialogue box
Click ‘Tools’ from the top Outlook menu
Select ‘account settings’ from the ‘tools’ menu
Highlight the email account you are having trouble with and press ‘Change’
From the ‘Change e-mail account’ page, change the ‘incoming mail server’ address to match the certificate domain, e.g. if the address in this box is something along the lines of ‘pop3.yourdomain.com’ and the certificate address is ‘*.hosts.co.uk’, change the incoming mail server address to ‘pop3.hosts.co.uk’ (don’t forget to keep a note of the current settings just in case you need to change this back)
Click next then finish
Send and receive to check if the problem has been fixed

Change the incoming mail server address to match the certificate address

Updating your email password and security settings on Outlook 2007

Here is a short tutorial on how to update your email password and change the connection to the SSL security type.

Note: this tutorial relates to email collection (POP3 or IMAP) not email sending (SMTP) and email collection connection security only.

Updating the email collection security type to SSL

Step 1 – open Outlook and select ‘account settings’ from the ‘tools’ menu

open Outlook and select ‘account settings’

Step 2 – from the ‘account settings’ dialogue box, highlight the account you’d like to change then press the ‘change’ button

from the ‘account settings’ dialogue box, highlight the account you’d like to change then press the ‘change’ button

Step 3 – from the ‘change email account’ dialogue box select ‘more settings’

from the ‘change email account’ dialogue box select ‘more settings’

Step 4 – from the ‘internet email settings’ dialogue box choose the ‘advanced’ tab from along the top then make sure the ‘this server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)’ tick box is ticked

from the ‘internet email settings’ dialogue box choose the ‘advanced’ tab from along the top then make sure the ‘this server requires an encrypted connection’ tick box is ticked

Step 5 – click ‘OK’ and then from back at the ‘change email account’ dialogue box press ‘next’ then ‘finish’

click OK then from the ‘change email account’ dialogue box press ‘next’ then ‘finish’

Updating your email collection password

to update the password used to collect your email:

Step 1 – follow the above steps 1, 2 and 3

Step 2 – type in your new password into the ‘password’ box on the ‘change email account’ page

type in your new password into the ‘password’ box on the ‘change email account’ page

Step 3 – press ‘next’ then ‘finish’

Build your business with a blog

Here at Seven Creative web and marketing agency, we know how important it is to have a great website and a strong presence online. According to a recent study, over 50% of consumers use the internet as a first port of call to find out more about a new business or service.

So, you have a great website – what next?

Seven Creative think that a great way to make the most of your website and boost your online presence is to start a company blog. And we’re not alone; numerous businesses across the world are reaping the benefits of blogging. Connecting your blog to your website can do wonders for its traffic flow, as well as many other benefits that we’ll discuss here.

How can a blog help your business?

Become an expert in your field

By writing about subjects that are relevant to your industry, you can become an expert in your field. It’s not difficult to come up with subjects for your blog posts, especially when you’re working in your industry on a daily basis.

New products, services, industry news gathered from a quick Google search, product development, case studies; these can all spark the beginnings of a great post. By demonstrating industry knowledge, you can establish your professional credibility and expertise!

Build relationships with customers

Having a blog is a great way to engage with existing customers and potential clients. It goes without saying that building relationships with customers is a must for the development of a successful business. Even if your company is based online and you never meet your customers face to face, informative and interesting blog articles are a great way of communicating, building dialogue and providing a platform for customers to contact you.

Blogs and search engine optimisation

Aside from the above benefits, blogs can also be used as a tool to drive traffic to your main website by boosting the search engine optimisation. Remember, not only are you writing informative articles to attract people’s attention and engage them with valuable content, if you make sure that your articles are rich in key words and popular search terms, your blog can increase your SEO efforts too.

If you would like a blog for your business, but don’t have the time to dedicate to it, or the skills to set it up yourself, Seven Creative web and marketing agency can help. We have set up blogs for a number of clients in a wide variety of industries. And if you’re stuck for original, interesting content, we can take care of that too. We can even write the articles for you, as frequently as you like! For more information, contact Chris at the Seven Creative office on 0114 383 0711 or contact us via our website.