Simply put, the easiest case for switching to HTTPS is that you are making your website more secure.It can safeguard your data and that of your customers,
It can safeguard your data and that of your customers, and bring you the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you’re protected from other problems such as malicious adverts or spyware, that can ruin your site’s reputation.
What is HTTPS?
The S stands for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which is a technology that encrypts your website connection, preventing hackers from getting hold of your data. SSL helps to keep important information like banking and login details secure. This is often recognised as showing a green address bar or padlock in the browser window to indicate the website is using a secure connection.
Why Do You Need HTTPS?
Traditionally HTTPS has been used by Ecommerce retailers or any other business accepting online payments to ensure that sensitive data, confidential payment details were sent securely to prevent them being stolen by malicious hacking. Improving online security has become increasingly important, Google has been one of the main companies driving this. Google has recently announced that HTTS is ranking factor in their algorithm. This has increased users switching to HTTPS. It is now recommended for any business that is focused on reassuring visitors to their website that it’s secure and achieving higher ranking.
If your domain has HTTPS your site will have an advantage over those that are still with https. This came from Google back in 2015 by Gary Illyes revealed that if two pages are the equal the Google search engine will take preference with the one using Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) Modcast’s recent report now showing that 50% of the Google’s search results that come up are now listed as HTTPS. Just last October, that figure hit 40% and in January 2016, it was only 25%. You can read about the Modcast report here
The reason why the Google algorithm increasingly prefers https is that the company wants to prioritise secure websites. In fact, Google has been open about its desire to ensure that one day the whole web is secure, including sites that are not handling sensitive information.
The Google Chrome update 56 that came out in January 2017 is another step towards this goal. Since this update was rolled out, Chrome users have started to receive security warnings every time they access a site served by http and not https. Over the next few months, Google’s preference for https is likely to severely disadvantage http sites.
Should You Switch
It will likely at some point that website owners will have to switch to HTTPS, and getting ahead by switching now could give your site a significant advantage. If you would like some advice on HTTPS and how it could benefit your website feel free to contact The Digital Studios. Email info@thedigitalstudios.co.uk or call on 07922138513
