Does Your Website Need HTTPS Protocol?
You have probably noticed that an ever-increasing number of website addresses start with HTTPS. Are you wondering, what is HTTPS, what does it mean, and should my website have it?
If so, you’ve come to the right place.
This post will simply answer the important question: What is HTTPS and why is it used?
What Exactly Is HTTPS?
HTTPS is a protocol that was first used in 1995. It allowed companies to ensure the security of customers’ online credit card transactions. It also helped consumers by verifying that the sellers they visited online were exactly who they said they were—no redirection had occurred.
Customers learned to feel secure entering their credit card and personal information on HTTPS websites.
In time, HTTP was no longer enough; consumers considered it risky and unsecured. That’s exactly where we are today.
What’s In A name?
HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure.
The “Secure” refers to provided data encryption.
The HTTPS computer protocol lets you know that your communication is safe from theft, eavesdropping, or unknown alteration.
Today, HTTPS uses Transport Layer Security (TLS). This protocol formerly used Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security.
You probably have heard of the TLS and SSL IT buzzwords. Today you want your business, or practice, to take advantage of this important online upgrade.
HTTPS Is a Good Thing for Consumers and Website Owners
How does HTTPS help?
- It provides authentication of the website consumers are visiting. For example, web visitors know they are on their bank’s website and not visiting a dangerous copycat site
- Someone cannot hijack your website, taking your potential customers and leads with them
- Data remains secure; it is not misdirected or altered in transit
- Data will stay secure and unaltered
Today, these are the major concerns shared by online consumers and website owners alike.
Converting to HTTPS Will Help Your Business
Imagine that your customers or clients were afraid to pay online? What would happen to your business?
And worse, what if hackers hijacked your clients’ information? Your online business would lose customers in no time. Your company’s reputation would suffer—perhaps irrevocably.
Today’s savvy consumers know to look for HTTPS:// in the website address. HTTP:// is no longer enough to make a customer feel secure.
What Caused the Growth in the Number of HTTPS Sites?
For a server to handle HTTPS protocol data, a trusted third party has always had to sign a digital certificate. Originally, this was a costly service that limited HTTPS connections to secured payment transaction service and other expensive websites.
In the late 2010s, web browser developers made the HTTPS protocol easier to attain. Website developers realized the benefits of this encryption protocol, and its popularity grew.
Today you will see more HTTPS websites than unsecured HTTP sites. The protocol not only secures online submitted information, but it also keeps accounts safe and allows for private web browsing.
What Does the HTTPS Protocol Protect?
Today, business use the HTTPS protocol to protect important consumer data, including credit card and bank account numbers, private financial information, and login data.
HTTPS is even more important today, with many employers working from home and downloading and uploading sensitive company data.
HTTPS sites protect consumer security in other ways, as well.
It limits the amount of snooping an ISP can do on your web activity. It can determine which sites you looked at, but it can no longer determine the exact pages you viewed. This gives you more privacy when browsing.
Why Should Your Website Use HTTPS instead of HTTP?
HTTP vs. HTTPS
IT professionals now recommend that all websites use the HTTPS protocol—even if you are not sending or receiving critical financial data, such as credit card numbers.
Does this apply to you even if your website doesn’t offer a shopping cart? Yes.
Consumers Want to Be Safe Online
- Today, consumers like to see the padlock on the left side of the address bar indicating a secured website. If nothing else, consumers know your website is authentic and safe to browse, and that traded data is safely encrypted.
- Some web browsers will issue a warning to consumers who enter data on an HTTP website. This data doesn’t have to be related to a purchase. Potential clients can be simply entering their website address on a “Contact Me” page.
If this ever happened to you, you probably refrained from entering any more data and quickly left the page. You can see why staying a HTTP site means saying good-by to valuable leads and prospects.
- Using HTTPS for your website will help your Google search engine ranking. However, no one is sure how the Google search algorithms work, so it’s impossible to say how much of an advantage Google gives sites offering HTTPS encryption.
HTTPS Gives Your Website Clout
Security matters aside, HTTPS shows your site is current in IT matters. This makes your entire company appear to be more current and on-top of today’s trends.
Think of it. You wouldn’t want your in-person customers to walk into an outdated shabby showroom. And you don’t want your online customers visiting an outdated website.
HTTPS enhances the reputation of your business.
How to Convert Your Website to HTTPS
If you’re thinking about converting your website to HTTPS from HTTP, there are several things you need to know.
- To begin with, it will involve some expense, but the expense is not prohibitive. You will need to purchase an SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer certificate). Someone will then need to install the SSL certificate on your web server and properly configure your website. This can be a tricky proposition, even for many web developers. We have opted for our Internet Service Provider (ISP), GoDaddy, to do this for us.
- Afterward, review your website for “mixed content” errors. These errors occur when a HTTPS website links to a HTTP website. (This will be a matter for your web developer.)
- Finally, you will want to contact Google’s search engine via Google Search Console and let them know your site is now HTTPS. Change Google Analytics.
Changing your website from HTTP to HTTPS will take some time and money. But in today’s business world, it would be foolish not to take advantage of all that HTTPS offers. Today, it is truly a minimal cost of doing business on the Word Wide Web.
Visit my freelance writing business blog at LEFreelanceWriter.com for lots of useful information on business blogging and web development.
