Is Your Site Secure? HTTPS
Should my site be secure and what does that mean?
I want to start by saying YES! It doesn’t matter if your site sells anything, has a chat forum, requires users to login in, or is informational, the answer is still yes. If you are not sure if your site is secure it is very easy to find out, simply look at your site in your browser and see if there is a green padlock to the left of the URL.
Most likely if your site is not secure it will not be displayed by the browser and you will see something like this.
So What Is A Secure Site?
So what is a secure site, it means that your site is encrypted and provides authentication that you are who you say you are. It is common to say that your site is secured with SSL or HTTPs, but do you know what that means?
I won’t get into the technical details of how it is done but I will provide you with a definition below, the important thing is that you understand the concept that the execution of it because you can purchase your certificate from your hosting provider.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) – security protocol that provides privacy, authentication, and integrity to Internet communications. SSL eventually evolved into Transport Layer Security (TLS)
TLS is the up-to-date encryption protocol that is still being implemented online, even though many people still refer to it as ‘SSL encryption’. This can be a source of confusion for consumers shopping for security solutions. The truth is that any vendor offering ‘SSL’ these days is almost certainly providing TLS protection, which has been an industry standard for nearly twenty years. But since many folks are still searching for ‘SSL protection’, the term is still featured prominently on many product pages.
Now that you know what it is if you are still not sure you need to secure your site because you are not requiring customers to create login credentials nor are you selling anything here are three reasons from Mark Brinker, from Mark Brinker & associates talking about why your site needs HTTPS.
- Maintain lead generation
- Improve your search engine rankings
- Everybody’s doing it
While there are many browsers Firefox and Chrome both implement a warning for non-HTTPs sites according to SEJ Journal.
Take a look at this statistic from Blue Corona, if your site is not secure ask yourself what is stopping you from making a change?
Four Dots is an SEO company and they have a very detailed blog post (it has a table of contents!) about why you need SSL in 2016 and updated it in 2018. If you want a ton of information and have the time, read the whole thing, the cliff notes on the benefits of using HTTPS are:
- Improved Brand Perception
- Improved Performance via HTTP/2 (HTTP/2 can’t be used without HTTPS (it requires it explicitly))
- Improved Security
- Improved Google Rankings
The objective of your website is for customers both current and future, to find you and to help you establish credibility for your business. By ensuring your site is secure you are demonstrating that you are who you say you are and that you take your business seriously in the way you present your self both in-person and online. If you have not yet made the switch to HTTPs, talk to your host provider today to learn about the options they provide you to secure your site.
DISCLAIMER: This advice is general in nature and not to be taken as personal professional advice. This blog does not provide legal advice if you need legal advice, please contact an attorney directly.