Cybersecurity is currently a top priority for anyone in the online space. From businesses, government and even social platforms. In today’s world, we conduct sensitive businesses online as we become a digital world. From making payments online or even accessing your bank details. Companies that are involved in eCommerce and other sensitive services have employed the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) prefixed within their web URL. HTTPS is an extra layer of protection between a website and a reader, creating an encryption in the data that’s transferred between the two. It is able to encrypt the information, so only the reader and web server know what’s in the information.
You may be asking why you need the HTTPS on your website since your blog does not have an online shop requiring any Credit Card transactions.
Did you know, without the added protection, your login details and even passwords can be stolen at some point between the user and the server? Your Blog account could, therefore, be easily hacked, information could be altered and even the comments section could be manipulated.
Google is encouraging every website owner to apply HTTPS. This is a move to increase security on the internet. When you start a blog, you expected to get a high reach. You did not expect to write just for your own reasons without anyone else viewing your work. In 2014 Google stated they will include HTTPS as a ranking signal. Therefore, blogs that apply HTTPS will uphold their Google rankings than blogs which have HTTP. Google has proven that sites available over HTTPS will get a higher reach than those which don’t.
In the age of digital security, people are advised to install plugins that can be able to inform you whether a website is secure or insecure. With this, your blog traffic will face challenges when someone wants to reach it as a “Not Secure” sign will pop-up prompting them to stay safe especially for Chrome users (Chrome 62 Version).
As it is important for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to be on high it is also crucial to create a safe space for your users. For a strong SEO, on both mobile and desktop enabling HTTPS on your blog will improve your traffic and even those who would like to work with you. We do not want to encourage users to ignore warning signs. This behaviour will only prompt the rise of online hackers. Your readers could face the risk of their own comments being altered. Your audience needs to be able to trust you.
Applying HTTPS will also improve your sites speed. This is because HTTPS allows your site to be loaded via HTTP/2, the new version of HTTP. HTTP/2 allows browsers to load pages a lot faster.
The good news is, developers themselves are enthralled to secure websites with HTTPS by default. Soon, having a HTTPS blog will be the norm. Do not be left out.
So how can you apply HTTPS? Follow this link for more information.