Over the past 19 months the number of secure websites has increased by 18%. That may not sound like much, but to put it in perspective, it took 20 years to secure 40% of the web, yet in just over a year secure traffic has increased as much as in the previous decade.
Before we look at why, let’s explain what it means when someone says a site is “secure”. Most people are familiar with the padlock icon in a browser that indicates whether a site is secure. This lock (also represented with HTTPS instead of HTTP at the beginning of a web address) means your browser has compared the address of the website with a unique certificate issued by a trusted third party to verify you are viewing the correct website.
Let’s take a look at five major reasons you should consider securing your website.
By securing your website, you guarantee visitors that the content they are viewing has not been altered in any way. A secure site cannot be intercepted and modified by a third party, making it much more difficult to change the code on a website or inject malicious scripts or redirects to trick visitors into inadvertently providing sensitive information to anyone other than to the intended recipient.
A secure website also hides certain details from internet providers and data tracking companies. These companies may be able to see what sites you visit, but the actual subject and content of the pages you view cannot be tracked as easily when a site is secured. This protects user privacy from increasingly aggressive tracking techniques and marketing tactics by big data companies.
Adding security to an online store, donation page or job application increases consumer confidence when using a website, and will likely lead to increased sales and more frequent interaction with your brand. Even pages that don’t necessarily need to be secure can assure a visitor their entire browsing experience is protected.
In an effort to promote a more secure browsing experience, companies like Google recommend making all websites secure. Secure sites may even see a slight rankings boost as a result.
Recently Chrome and Firefox added a feature to warn visitors if they submit data on a website that is not secure. While a form may not always NEED to be secure, it is highly likely this warning will result in missed opportunities and lost sales if visitors decide not to risk submitting information through an insecure form.
In years past, securing a website was often time-consuming and cost prohibitive, but thanks to services like Let’s Encrypt, we can secure your website quickly and easily. Your website can be secured with a simple one-time setup process that no longer requires an annual certificate renewal fee or additional monthly costs associated with secure sites (like a static IP address).
Take advantage of the benefits a secure site offers you and your customers and help make the web a safer place.
Posted August 07, 2017