Should you upgrade your site to HTTPS?

Google recently announced its preference for HTTPS websites

In January 2017, Google announced that they would begin designating sites using HTTP as not secure. We now know that this designation will happen this October in their Chrome browser.

Websites using HTTPS are marked as secure in the address bar, ensuring the user’s trust and preventing malicious parties from intercepting data sent between the user and the website. HTTP websites, on the other hand, will visibly display as “not secure.” They won’t outright say it, but evidence suggests that sites using HTTPS are preferred and tend to rank higher in the search results.

So, what’s the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?

The “S” at the end of HTTPS stands for SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer. This is what enables a secure and encrypted connection for a user to a website, so that no one can maliciously intercept any data—meaning no unauthorized third party can spy on your business.

Switching to HTTPS can help with your site’s SEO. If two websites are entirely equal to each other aside from one using HTTPS and the other using HTTP, the secure one will rank higher in search engine results given what we know today.

What actions to take

If you collect data from users, especially sensitive data such as personal or billing information, HTTPS should be a priority for your website to help ensure that data’s safety.

Even if you’re not collecting sensitive data, the security of HTTPS establishes a level of trust for your customers and can help sell the authenticity of your brand and the services you provide.

If you’d like to discuss switching your site over to a more secure HTTPS protocol, we’d be happy to help. Drop us a line today!

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