The internet is becoming a safer place
Great news! More websites than ever are using encryption to protect users data. The internet is now a safer than ever with stats from letsenccrypt.org now showing over 50% of web pages loaded by firefox using HTTPS. For consumers HTTPS means better security and privacy while using websites and for business owners it delivers better security, privacy and improved consumer trust. We will highlight the key benefits of HTTPS for small businesses and why it’s now essential for all website owners to enable it.
Is your website using HTTPS?
If you can see something that looks like the above then yes. That familiar bit before a websites address should read “https”. The letter “S” in “https”stands for secure and along with the little padlock icon tells us that that an SSL certificate is being used and that traffic between the web browser and the server is encrypted. If you only see “HTTP” before your websites traffic is not encrypted.
For website owners obtaining an SSL certificate and enabling HTTPS is now a must!
Here’s why:
Benefits of HTTPS for small businesses
Improved Security & Privacy
Encrypting website traffic protects users data from snooping eyes while in transit. Getting an SSL certificate and enabling HTTPS will make your website far more secure, helping keep hackers out while providing a trustworthy and safe browsing experience for users.
Better SEO Ranking
HTTPS is good for SEO! Back in 2014 Google announced it’s SSL ranking signal. Businesses already implementing HTTPS on their websites have for some time gained the benefit of higher search engine ranking results.
Credibility and Trust
With the stats from letsencript.org in mind (100 million certificates SSL certificates issued by letsencrypt.org ), it’s clear that if your site is not using HTTPS it will soon be the odd one out. Google’s Chrome web browser ‘info icon’ highlights websites not using an SSL certificate. The warning it flags up is grim!
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of online privacy and are less willing than ever to submit sensitive data on websites they do not trust.
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How much does an SSL certificate cost?
Costs of an SSL certificate used to be prohibitive to small businesses. Let’s Encrypt is a free, automated, and open Certificate Authority which issues free SSL certificates! There is of course the technical task of installing SLL certificates. Setup and testing of HTTPS is best left to a professional.
In conclusion
Business that have not implemented HTTPS on their websites are now falling way behind the curve and need to jump on board ASAP. Many, many moons ago SSL certificates were the reserve of e-commerce websites & online banking services. Today internet users are not only more security aware but now expect their data to be protected.
It’s time to enable HTTPS on your website!
If you need help switching to HTTPS please feel free to contact us and one of our website development experts will help.
