3 Reasons Your Business Website Needs HTTPS
Your customers care about the security of their data
Customers want speed, convenience and simplicity in an online shopping experience, but just as important—considering the amount of personal data exchanged—is safety, security and trust.
It’s necessary, even essential, that businesses take measures to protect the sensitive information exchanged on their websites. Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is one tool available to improve data security immediately and effectively. HTTPS is the secure way that data is sent from a web browser to a website.
HTTPS—an upgrade from on the older HTTP standard—encrypts information by adding SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) certificates to your site. These certificates encrypt the data as it moves between the user’s browser and the server, protecting the information from being intercepted by hackers.
Website hosting services provide TLS/SSL certificates for a fee. The certificates verify your site’s identity. Every time a user visits your site, their browser checks these certificates to verify your site is safe to use.
Customer studies show that 85% of consumers won’t convert if data is being transmitted through an unsecure connection. Another 82% of internet users won’t even browse on a website that’s not secure.
Here are three reasons your website should incorporate HTTPS.
1. It protects user information
Any website that accepts login credentials, passwords, credit card information, addresses and other sensitive information should be especially concerned about security. Customers lose trust in businesses that don’t protect their data. The general public is growing more aware of how companies collect, use, analyze and share their data, making it more important than ever to keep this information safe.
2. Browsers take notice
Popular browsers such as Google Chrome label sites “Not Secure” in the address bar. While users can still access an unsecured site, this warning increases the likelihood they will leave.. Strict browser security settings will flag your HTTP site, decreasing the chance of conversions for even the most optimized website. Browsers will alert users that a site does not have the proper certificates. One recent survey found that 84 percent of users would abandon a purchase if their data was sent over an unsecured connection.
3. It’s good for Search Engine Optimization
Google has considered HTTPS a ranking factor in its search algorithm since 2014. Consider the Page 1 search results of a typical Google search—almost all of the top results are HTTPS secured. Google has gone so far as to suggest that HTTPS even receive the “tie-breaker” for similar sites with competing services.
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