Website security and the security of your website users is of prime importance. With the increase in website security incidents, hackers, identity theft, phishing and spam (amongst other on-ljne security risks), there has been an increasing shift towards a “secure by default” web when it comes to protecting traffic.
Many current websites not involved in any currency transactions use the standard HTTP protocol – which is NOT SECURE. With the increasing security risks of website experiences, the move is now very much towards the HTTPS protocol. The main benefit of HTTPS is that it makes your site more secure for your users. More specifically, it’s more secure when a user is giving you any sort of information.
Not only does it make your website more secure, but also there is a SEO benefit with the major search engines providing a small boost in rankings (possibly larger in the future, or even a negative impact similar to that seen with non-mobile friendly websites).
Finally, there will also be a change in the way (specifically) Google Chrome notifies website users about the security status of your website.
The following digram shows the planned progression of notifications, served to those using Google Chrome (the most popular web browser currently by over 50%).
So, if your website is not using HTTPS, they will immediately be advised that the website they are viewing is ‘Not secure’ – which will (no doubt) have a significant negative impact on user confidence and trust in viewing websites not adopting the HTTPS protocol.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral.
We would highly recommend adopting a SSL Certificate on your website, to ensure you provide the confidence to your users of their security when browsing your site online.
For further information, or to arrange the installation of your SSL Certificate, please contact us.
Key Benefits of HTTPS
- Improving SEO
- SSL Provides Trust
- SSL Provides Authentication
- Protects your information and that of your visitor’s
- Chrome browser will show your Domain URL as “Secure”
So, if your website does not yet support the SSL technology it’s time to make the move!