HTTPS Activation – SSL Certificate Installation
Reflect trust back to your customers
Because of the “Not Secure” message displayed in the browser’s address bar, most users will discern that your site is vulnerable at best—and at worst, unsecure. Most likely, they’ll leave your site immediately.
Online competition is fierce. An online store can have hundreds of competitors, and there’s a very high risk that a prospective customer will choose a competitor over your site if they’re even a little worried about data protection. This is why it’s vital to have a secure site.
Google Penalises Unsecure Sites (Where HTTPS is Missing)
Securing your website—especially if you’re handling sensitive information like passwords, credit card details, and delivery addresses—has become a downright necessity. Google has remarked that they will offer a small advantage in search results to websites using HTTPS in an effort to encourage all sites to make the switch from HTTP. The end goal of all of this is to safeguard all information online.
Customers are becoming more and more savvy when it comes to the security of the personal information they share online, and an ever-increasing number of those customers are seeking websites with SSL certificates before providing any sensitive information and making a purchase. If a website doesn’t inspire trust, visitors will return to the results page of Google and choose a more trustworthy alternative (read: competitor).
You have everything to gain by implementing security on your site.
HTTP connections are simple text and can be read by any hacker who can “crack” the connection between their browser and your website. This can be especially dangerous when it occurs mid-order or while a client is entering sensitive data. By connecting through HTTPS, all communications are secured. This means that even if someone managed to access the connection, they wouldn’t be able to view or interpret the information passing through your site. You can tell if a site runs through HTTPS based on the URL’s prefix (http:// versus https://).
The easiest way to avoid being penalised is to purchase an SSL certificate which will remove all doubts from your customers’ minds.
There is so much to lose if you don’t act—and so much to gain if you do. Your customers need the assurance that an SSL certificate provides, and without one, your site may be left behind (behind the first page of Google, that is). Once HTPS is activated, the only entities with access to secured information are the customer themselves and the end server.