When you have a website, maintaining the security of the site as well as your users is one of the most crucial aspects.
A study shows that a lot of cyber attacks happen to small business organizations.
And due to this & many other reasons, most websites are moving towards HTTPS from HTTP.
But before starting about the advantages of the HTTPS-based website, lets clear our concepts.
What is HTTP?
HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol is an application layer protocol that governs any information that can be transmitted on the World Wide Web. HTTP provides standard rules for web browsers & servers to communicate.
It uses structured text which establishes the logical link between nodes containing text. It is also known as “stateless protocol” as each command is executed separately, without using a reference of the previous run command.
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure.
It allows secure transactions by encrypting the entire communication with SSL. It is a combination of SSL/TLS protocol and HTTP. It provides encrypted and secure identification of a network server.
Earlier, HTTPS used to be associated with sites that had sensitive information, but now more sites are making the switch rapidly!
What is an SSL Certificate?
It is a set of data that is to be added to your server to achieve an encrypted connection between a browser & a server.
When the site is SSL certified, it displays a green padlock indicating the site is secured.
What are the major differences between HTTP & HTTPS sites?
| HTTP | HTTPS |
| The address browser is http:// | The address browser is https:// |
| It is unsecured | It is secured |
| Sends data over port 80 | Uses port 443 |
| operates at application layer | operates at transport layer |
| No SSL certificates are required for HTTP | HTTPS it is required that you have an SSL certificate |
| No encryption in HTTP | HTTPS the data is encrypted before sending |
What are the advantages of HTTPS?
Improved Google Ranking
If you look at the first page of Google, almost 40% of the sites are HTTPS.
This is not a surprise since Google has confirmed that they favor HTTPS sites.
Google wants to ensure the best user experience for their customers, so understandably they don’t want to send searchers to insecure sites
Security & Privacy
HTTPS sites are encrypted. Keeping everything safer and more secure is simply a better option for everyone.
Google adds criteria to the rankings algorithm when it has proven to provide a better user experience. HTTPS protects your users’ information and your information from hackers.
Keeping everything safer is obviously a better experience for everyone!
For HTTP, every request can potentially reveal a lot of information & behavior of any user.
Although a single visit may seem pretty harmless, some intruders look at the aggregate browsing activities of your users to make inferences about their behaviors and intentions.
Also, some Wifi operators use MitM techniques to inject ads or various other messages into the user’s unencrypted web traffic. HTTPS has the capacity to prevent this.
Your website will look for authoritative
Earlier, in one of our blogs, we had discussed how Google prefers sites that have more authoritative tones to it.
Well, most company has an HTTPS website. This is mostly because of the practical implications surrounding encrypting user data. It’s also because HTTPS comes off as more professional.
If you are still using a non-HTTPS website recently, you may have noticed next to the website’s address a note saying “not secure”.
Seeing something like “not secured” in your browser shatters consumer’s confidence.
Better SEO
Google deals with over 3 billion searches per day.
SEO is incredibly important for your online visibility. Google and other search engines put additional weight on HTTPS sites which is one of the largest advantages of HTTPS.
Updated browser labels
As a part of their push for a more secure web, Google updates its labeling for HTTP sites in Chrome’s URL bar.
HTTP sites are marked grey information symbol that tells the user the site is not secure if they click on it.
Google is marking Http sites with a red triangle with a “Not Secure” label written in red.
How to change your site from HTTP to HTTPS?
The steps are pretty simple & straightforward:
Step 1
Purchase an SSL certificate
Step 2
Install your SSL certificate on your website’s hosting account.
Step 3
Now, change all website links to HTTPS, so that they are not broker after you make the flip
Step 4
Set up 301 redirects from HTTP to HTTPS
However, due to the overwhelming responses offered by SSL certificate vendors and packages offered by hosting companies, this process can become very puzzling.
One thing is for sure if you want to change your site from HTTP to HTTPS, at some point you are bound to get confused. It is better to take professional help.
Want some help? Connect with us at Skyram Technologies. Our expert team of professionals will surely help you manage your page better so that it gets the maximum visibility online! Contact us here!
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