When you’re shopping online, the last website you want to buy from is the one that says “Not secure” right there on the browser bar. Sometimes there’s just an icon of an “i” inside a circle inviting people to “view site information”, and it says “Your connection to this site is not fully secure.” Such sites won’t exactly put your mind at ease, right?
What you want is that padlock icon with the “Secure” designation, along with the “https” in the website address. Click on that, and it’ll say “Connection is secure” and that your information such as your password to the site and your credit card numbers will be safe when you send them to the site. That means other people (like hackers) are much less likely to find your password or get your credit card numbers.
Why Switch to HTTPS?
That “S” after “http” in the browser bar stands for “secure”, and if you’re the website manager that’s what you want. Google has reported that 81 of the top 100 sites are already using https. The stats found by the Google Chrome browser has also found that about 68% of the Chrome traffic on Android and Windows are already protected by https domains. It’s higher at 78% for Chrome OS and Mac.
So why are webmasters switching to https? Here are some compelling reasons:
- The “not secure” warning doesn’t make your website visitors feel good about browsing around on your site. This means that they’re much more likely to leave your site as quickly as possible once they get to see that warning.
- People assume automatically that your website is basically untrustworthy. This may not be limited to just your security, but also the truthfulness of your information.
- Your website visitors may also conclude that you simply do not care about them and their security. This may then also mean that you don’t care about them in general, so people may suspect that you’re offering substandard products and services while you’re overcharging your customers.
- When people leave your site for these reasons, you basically lose them as potential customers. You’re not able to offer them your goods and services and you’re not able to enjoy their patronage (and money).
- The use of https can also affect your SEO. Google is discouraging websites with unsecure domains by keeping them from appearing in their top search results. So even if you do think you don’t need a secure domain for your site (because you don’t use the site with passwords or get credit card info), it’s still bad from an online marketing standpoint.
It’s not as if it’s extremely difficult or expensive to make the switch to a secure domain. If you’re using a professional web designer to make your site for you, then make sure they will automatically secure the SSL certificate you need so that you will have a secure domain for your site. If you’re doing your website yourself, then you need to get that SSL certificate pronto as well.
Learn about Sunex’s Digital Marketing Services!