HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
In simple terms, having HTTPS applied to your site means that any information transferred between a website and your internet browser is encrypted/secured/safe.
I still come across so many websites that are not using HTTPS on a daily basis, and I still speak to business owners who tell us that they think HTTPS is not necessary for their business.
Well I am here to tell you that HTTPS is important, and it is necessary for virtually every website.
A lot of business owners tell us this encryption isn’t necessary for their website for all sorts of reasons. And a popular belief is that if you don’t take payment through your website there is no need for encryption.
Why is HTTPS important?
Now in theory this seems like rational thinking, however, the reasons why you SHOULD still use encryption (of which there are many) outweigh this theory. Here’s why:
- You are probably losing customers
According to a recent study, 85% of consumers won’t convert if their data is being transmitted through a connection that is unsecured. 82% of Internet users won’t even browse on a website that isn’t secure. - Security
43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses. HTTPS is one of the tools in your arsenal to prevent this. I could make an entire post about this but trust me, it is real and it is serious. - SEO
Google announced back in 2014 that HTTPS would become a ranking factor, i.e. where your site sits amongst your competitors’ sites. If that isn’t reason enough to adopt HTTPS, I don’t know what is. Don’t mess with the Google gods. - Trust
For starters, most browsers warn users if a site is not HTTPS. Would you be likely to visit a site if it looked like this?
And even if you don’t take payment details on your website, your customers might be reluctant to use a simple contact form because of the risk of their sensitive information being stolen (name, email and phone number). In this day and age, personal online security is becoming more and more of an issue, so our advice is to not even think about risking it.
So how do I get HTTPS?
To get HTTPS, you firstly need to obtain an SSL Certificate and install it on your site. We can happily assist you with this, or alternatively you could talk to your webhosting company who should be able to install it for you.
Please just be aware that when you switch your site to HTTPS you will also need to redirect your site pages and URLs to proper functionality of your site and everything that links to it. This is why it can be a good idea to entrust someone like Armstrong Creative to handle this kind of task.
In a nutshell, HTTPS is an integral tool for your business as it can help with your SEO rankings, secures your website, builds trust with your site and in turn can help increase your website leads.
