Right from the start of the internet, security has always been a key consideration for all users – individuals and businesses. From antivirus to firewall updates, people have always looked for ways to feel more protected against malicious programs.
One way to stay protected while surfing the internet is visiting websites that use the HTTPS protocol. Unfortunately the majority of websites are still running under the HTTP protocol, but this is changing rapidly since search engines such as Google, have started confirming that applying the HTTPS protocol will have a positive effect on websites search engine ranking. For this reason many websites are moving to HTTPS.
Clients sometimes ask us – “What do I gain by moving my site to HTTPS?”
Here are the top three reasons.
- Increasing Security
- Building Customer Confidence
- Search Engine Optimisation – the page rank factor
1. Increasing Security
HTTPS stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol “Secure”. Basically it works on top of HTTP, and using an encrypted connection allows users to communicate with your website securely. So HTTPS is adding an extra data layer of security in case someone or something is “sniffing” your connection and getting data packages from your communication. It also helps improve security. If someone is able to find a way to get the data you are transmitting, the information is useless to them as it is encrypted.
2. Building Customer Confidence
You might have noticed that when visiting a website, sometimes, a green padlock appears on your browser. This means that the communication between your machine and the website is using HTTPS. Therefore using a more secure type of communication. When customers see this they feel more confident when visiting and navigating your website and more protected while filling in a form. This, I think, is also a major reason why you should consider moving your website to HTTPS as soon as possible. Give your customers the assurance that you care about them and about their privacy.
e.g displaying padlock on Firefox while visiting a website that is using HTTPS protocol.
3. Search Engine Optimisation – the page rank factor
Yes it’s true. Search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. are starting to change their page rank algorithms in order to provide an extra boost to those websites that are using HTTPS. This is not a surprise, Google have been heading down this path for years now. We know that Google and others are trying very hard every day to provide the best search results to their clients, to make sure they list the best websites first in their results in terms of content, speed, usability and security.
So why isn’t every website already using HTTPS?
Many website owners are scared about migrating to HTTPS because the migration must be done properly in order to get the SEO benefit. The key factors here are to use the right SSL certificate and make sure that the URL’s migration from one protocol to another is done correctly. It’s also important to use the 301 Redirect wisely.
Saying that, we strongly recommend you consider moving your website to HTTPS!
If you need help on this or on improving your presence on search engines please feel free to contact us.
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