Does your site really need HTTPS?
Look for the padlock!
If you see a little padlock in the address bar of your web browser, that means you’re visiting a secure website. The padlock signifies that the data you’re sending or receiving from that site is encrypted.
A non-secure website has a URL that begins with “http” in the address bar. A secure website begins with “https” — the “s” stands for “secure”. What you need is called an SSL certificate or license.
Up until very recently, you only needed a secure website if you were doing e-commerce and you had a shopping cart where customers were entering their credit card info. But now, even if your website is primarily an informational site, it’s recommended that you move your site to HTTPS. In fact, this past year Chrome browser started to notify you if the site you were about to view was secure or not. Google search began down-ranking unencrypted sites in 2015.
Do you want to risk having someone not look at your site because is isn’t secure? Do you want to have your search results downgraded because your site isn’t secure? I bet the answer to both questions is NO!
We can help you get set up with the proper SSL for your site – and many web hosting companies offer the SSL for free.
Why you need SSL (https) on your website
When someone visits your site starting with only an http address, the information your browser sends to the website’s server is called open text. If you log into your WordPress admin panel with your user ID and password, that information is delivered to your server as plain text that anyone could read. So, if someone is watching the web traffic on your site, they can grab your information and get access to your site. YIKES!
However, if you set up SSL (https) properly on your website (we can help), then the data that is transmitted is no longer plain text. It is encrypted and is of no use to someone trying to get access to your site.
As mentioned before, Google wants it!
Google is using SSL as a ranking factor and says that your site needs these 3 things: