Why SSL and HTTPS are Essential for Your Website

In July 2018, Google announced they would begin marking all sites without an SSL certificate as “not secure.” This identifier tells website visitors whether their personal information is safe and secure while they’re browsing sites on the internet. When an SSL certificate is present on a site, the site’s URL will display as ‘HTTPS’ and you’ll see a green lock next to the words ‘Secure’ in the URL window. HTTPS indicates that the site protects user data and ensures that the user is connected to an authentic site. Bottom line, Google wants a more secure web and is making HTTPS the standard for all websites going forward.

What is an SSL Certificate?

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer (SSL). SSL is a security protocol that allows encrypted communication between a web server and internet browser. It encrypts all data transmitted between the server and the user using an encryption key on the server. In layman’s terms, an SSL certificate ensures that the information being relayed between the web server and browser is only visible to the user and the website. When someone navigates to your secure website, your site sends the SSL certificate to visitor’s browser with the key needed to begin a secure session. This initiates the SSL “handshake” and allows for secure transfer of information between your website and browser. SSL certificates include the following information:

• Name of the certificate holder
• The certificate’s serial number and expiration date
• A copy of the certificate holder’s public key
• The digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority

If your website doesn’t have an SSL certificate, a secure connection can’t be established. This means that the information transmitted is not connected to a cryptographic key. This impacts a customer’s/visitor’s confidence in your business and may even prevent them from ordering from you (if you are an ecommerce site). In addition, ranking on Google without an SSL certificate is extremely difficult. You could be doing everything right as far as SEO goes but without an SSL certificate, your chances of ranking are extremely small.

What is HTTPS?

HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol used for communication between your website and the internet browser a visitor is using. If your website is secure, it will have “https://” in front of the web address instead of “https://”. When your website is secured with an SSL certificate, HTTPS will appear in your website’s URL.

Google Says HTTPS and SSL are Necessities

SSL certificates have been a ranking factor since 2014 but as time goes on and Google works toward a more secure internet, their importance has grown. This is a good thing for your business, as it gives you a competitive advantage against businesses who do not have an SSL certificate on their site. In July 2018 Google began displaying the security of the connection in the address bar of Chrome on all website pages, marking all HTTP pages “Not Secure”.

Three Critical Reasons to Secure Your Website

There are three reasons why switching to HTTPS is critical:

Authentication

Authentication helps verify ownership of your website. Believe it or not, there are people out there that make replicas of websites and divert traffic in an effort to steal from you. Most people know that they need to check for the green lock in the URL window before entering personal information into a website. But you can go one step further and verify the SSL certificate to make sure your visitors know their information is safe on your site.

Data Integrity

Data integrity is about whether the data on your site has been tampered with while it’s in transit. If your website is not secure, people who are technologically inclined can tamper with the data relayed from your server back to the client. That means that the contact form a potential client just filled out on your website could go to a hacker instead of to you.

Encryption

Encryption refers to the security of communication between the client and the server and it ensures no one else can read the information being transmitted. This is a key point for commercial and ecommerce websites since those businesses are often dealing with a customer’s personal information. While it’s extremely important to encrypt the communications, it’s equally important to encrypt the data submitted using forms.

The Cost of an SSL Certificate

The cost of an SSL certificate will depend on your website’s hosting provider, who they buy the certificate through, and the type of certificate they buy. There are three types of SSL certificates:

• Single Domain – This type of SSL certificate is only valid on one domain URL.
• Multi-Domain – Also known as a Universal Communication Certificate (UCC) this secures multiple domain names and multiple hostnames within a domain name. You can set a primary domain and then add up to 99 additional Subject Alternative Names (SANs) in a single certificate. This is great for businesses with multiple subdomains and URLs for different services, product lines, or geographic locations.
• Wildcard – This type of certificate is for securing all of the subdomains you may have for a single domain.

When selecting your SSL Certificate, it’s best to consult with your web host, marketing agency, or IT department to make sure you’re selecting the right option for your entire business.

The Process of Switching from HTTP to HTTPS

Switching from HTTP to HTTPS can be tricky. There are a few potential issues that can occur, which is why this isn’t considered a quick, DIY project. Here are a few things that need to happen to convert your site from HTTP to HTTPS:

• Find the right SSL certificate for your website
• Install the certificate on your website
• Update the configuration of your website to point to HTTPS instead of HTTP
• Redirect all pages for your HTTP website to the location of the HTTPS site
• Re-verify ownership of your website in Google Search Console and update the sitemap location
• Update your web property’s configuration in Google Analytics
• Test and confirm that the conversion was successful

Like we said, this isn’t a quick DIY project. Make the process easier by making us your web host and letting us handle the work!

Secure Your Website with an SSL Certificate

Securing your website is a must if you want to be competitive online and build trust with your customers. Making the switch sooner rather than later will only benefit your website and business. More businesses are realizing the value in digital marketing and that to compete online your SEO strategy needs to be more than just the basics. Paying attention to SSL could allow your site to rank higher.

Tags: Search Engine Optimization