Why Every Business Needs to Switch to HTTPS Now

You live in a world surrounded by abbreviations, whether they be verbal via everyday talk in business or in private, and in everything you read from books to newspapers.   You have become used to the more common abbreviations but perhaps are often perplexed when you come across a shortened form that you have never heard of or read before. It is not surprising, therefore, that the abbreviation HTTPS is not given much attention by many business owners.  After all, that little S on the end of HTTP can’t mean that much, surely? Perhaps sometimes, people just conjure up an abbreviation to make themselves sound intelligent or out of a habitual trend where words are more and more frequently abbreviated.

How important is that little S?

That single letter added to the start of your web address is the difference between customers running away from your site with their custom and details, and enjoying the conversion of traffic into a sale or sign-up. So, what does that single letter stand for? Perhaps one of the most important things every business owner should account for in the digital words, secure.

In short, HTTP is a means of data being transferred between a web browser and website. Pretty simple when you think of it like that, right? Here’s the tricky bit. When you submit anything over that connection, it is submitted in the form of this article; common, easy to understand plain text.

You may see multiple stars in the place of your password, but if a third party were to drop in between your browser and the website, they would not see unknown letters and numbers. They would see the password you have spent years crafting and likely use for multiple digital accounts. Disastrous right? Now think of the impact this has on your business, exposed client data not protected by correct security measures. So, what can you do about it, and how can you maintain customer trust in your business and avoid a fall in sales?

More and more people are looking out for added security layers that protect information sent over the internet, and the S at the end of HTTPS is one of the most easily recognizable security aspects for the majority of customers. The short answer is, you need that S in your business. Your business is crying out for the security HTTPS offers.

Give you Customers Peace of Mind

We can upgrade your site adding layers of additional protection incorporating the use of SSL technology to secure data being transferred to your website and protect customer details. When your customers visit your website, they will see one or more identifying factors of your security measures. The added S in HTTPS, a green padlock icon or a light green bar, padlock and S within the URL bar. Anyone trying to pry on now encrypted data will find it far harder to access the connection and on the off-chance, they do access the connection? Well, they will see a very peculiar list of text indeed, formed of numbers, odd characters and no way of understanding any of it. Welcome to the security of web encryption that our company is here to offer you, and reinforce your business ethics.

Once you start using the internet, you can drown in abbreviations, and even though you may “Google” a particular shortened form, you can often be none the wiser, because the definitions themselves can seem to be so complicated or tie you up in knots.   Our purpose, therefore, is to try and simplify two specific internet abbreviations to make your life easier. The world of security, HTTP vs HTTPS, SSL, and other security terminology needn’t be confusing.

Two Sides of HTTPS

There are two sides to the security aspect of HTTPS. When you visit Google, how do you know it is the Google, and not some imposter? Well, the address is Google.com, so it can’t be anything else, surely? Wrong. Hackers can set up sites that appear the same as genuine sites and hide the real address (iwillstealyourdetails.com) behind a fake front, such as thatgenuinewebsiteyouknow.com. HTTPS means that users know your site is legitimate. Whereas an HTTP address could be fronted in the manner described above, HTTPS has layers of security that cannot be faked, such as the padlock, green bar or the ever important s for security.

Impersonating websites where users end up entering details that are then stolen is a common scam employed by fraudsters who claim to be acting ‘on behalf of your banking group.’

As mentioned, besides the obviousness in the title, HTTPS, you will normally see the symbol of a padlock or a key in the bar displaying the website’s name. This may also be accompanied by a green bar, depending on the level of security implemented.

In an effort to make the internet a safer and more secure place, in 2014 Google stated its aim to make the internet a safer and more authentic and secure place and transferred its Google domain-specific websites over to HTTPS with the intention of pressing for other sites to do the same.   In the summer of 2017, the amount of encrypted traffic surpassed the amount of unencrypted traffic, signifying that any site not using HTTPS garners the notoriety of being unreliable and not respecting of customer standards of privacy.  By carrying out these procedures, it ensures that sites are regarded with a high degree of integrity.

Google Ranks Sites Higher With HTTPS

Google likes HTTPS. Websites without this additional layer of security are not ranked as highly as websites with verified security measures, meaning if your business doesn’t have HTTPS yet, it is suffering on Google rankings. Upgrading to HTTPS through our professional service will improve your credibility with search engines and improve traffic going to your site. All Google pages use high levels of security, recognizable by the HTTPS, padlock and green highlight in the address bar.

Google is also calling for HTTPS to be used by everyone on the web, and, in fact, have been running tests to see whether various websites are using the secure and encoded connections.

There really has never been a better time to have us upgrade your website to HTTPS and provide your customers with the security they deserve. Part of this ranking alteration by Google is an effort to ensure all website are using security and can be verified as genuine. The only people who should be worried by this are those people who use HTTP addresses to hijack information from customers, and in doing so, damage your business face.

Chrome and Firefox Blocking Sites Without HTTPS

HTTPS is more and more becoming an essential for websites nowadays, with users, armed with more knowledge about internet security, making a point of looking for the padlock when having to provide personal information.   Chrome and Firefox amongst other specifically indicate pages without HTTPS as being insecure. That’s right, web browsers are telling your customers to run away without using your website because you are using outdated security! And there are no reasons to maintain your old security, HTTPS offers a wide array of benefits both for SEO purposes, customer trust, and company integrity.

You may think that if your website doesn’t request details and is a ‘call us direct service,’ that you are immune to the worries of HTTPS. However, data espionage and the misuse of data is a serious problem worldwide for both individuals, businesses, and government.   Examples of the latter kind are more obvious now than ever before with all the accusations and alleged interference that various countries have been suspected of.   As you can see, the transferring to HTTPS and SSL [secure socket layer] have become more important than ever before in order to retain integrity.

SSL and TLS [transport layer security] are techniques for encrypting and authenticating data traffic, allowing all transference of data to be completely secure. All of these abbreviations are pieces of a much larger puzzle, a puzzle called HTTPS.

Steps to moving to HTTPS

Changing to HTTPS can be daunting for the inexperienced user, requiring many procedures with various parties, and requires precise knowledge of en

coded and server configuration.

When moving to HTTPS, the first thing to do is obtain an SSL certificate, which is basically a website identification which is obtainable through a certification authority [CA], whose responsibilities include the confirmation of a certificate’s identity and corroborate its authenticity.  The SSL certificate is then sent to the server and can be accessed whenever an HTTPS website is visited. This is the means of ensuring that your website is genuine and not representing a false company.

There are three different types of server certificates, all different in their identification.

1. A Certificate Verified By Domain Validation [DV]|: Because these certificates have the lowest authentication level, the CA will only confirm whether the applicant is the owner of the domain which relates to the certificate. No checks are made against the company during this process, which is why there is still some risk with the validation of the domain.   These certificates, however, are set up rapidly by the CA because there is only one aspect that needs to be verified.   This, also, makes it the cheapest of the three different types of SSL certificates.   Stating the obvious, the certificates with only domain validations are suitable for websites who rely a lot less on their security reputations and are known for no problems with fraudsters.
2. A Certificate Verified By Organisation Validation [OV]: This validation involves a more thorough authentication, whereby plus having ownership of a domain, the CA will look to see the company’s filings. Any information gleaned from the CA is accessible to website visitors, and this can provide a boost to the site’s transparency.   Because more is involved with this certificate, it obviously takes longer to achieve and is more expensive for the issuance of this type of SSL certificate, but provides a much higher degree of security and is suitable for websites where only low-level transactions occur.
3. Certificates Verified By Extended Validation [EV]: These certificates have the highest and most comprehensive level, requiring company information to be thoroughly scrutinized, and can only be issued by authorized CA’s. The website’s credibility is increased greatly as it has the highest security level of all the certificates and thus is the most expensive.  However, this certificate is the one for any credit card transaction and requiring the most sensitive of data to be inputted.

Obviously, it is always best to use the highest level of security encryption for your business. When it comes to security, less ID, definitely not more.

To ensure that search engines are notified of your move to HTTPS automatically, you can obtain a CMS plug-in, which will redirect all server traffic to your new HTTPS site, but if you fail to do this, you will have to update manually.

Prior to obtaining an SSL certificate though, you must ensure that the host is able to deliver an HTTPS website, and with some, more configuration will be involved, and ensure that your staff are fully prepared for the work to be undertaken and take into consideration the downtime that will occur when work is being carried out.   Communication between all departments works well and obviously, it would be unwise to have work commence on a Friday afternoon because the shift can take a fair bit of time.

Help your security to rise to the next level, with RiseAtlantic.

Don’t put your company’s integrity at risk – we can upgrade your website’s security easily and in a cost-effective manner. We have extensive experience working within the digital marketing and SEO industry. Not only do we understand the importance of security and staying ahead of the competition, we can help you to do exactly that with our timely, affordable services, including HTTPS upgrades.

Don’t get left behind, contact us today on +1 506-799-2441 or via our website  https://www.riseatlantic.com to discuss your requirements. We can tailor a service to ensure your expectations are exceeded and your business grows with security at its forefront.  You can also visit us at our facebook page Rise Atlantic Saint John or our google plus page Saint John SEO