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Why HTTPS Matters

1. HTTPS protects the privacy and security of your users

•    It verifies that the website is the one the server it is supposed to be talking to.
•    It prevents tampering by third parties.
•    It makes your site more secure for visitors.
•    It encrypts all communication, including URLs, which protects things like browsing history and credit card numbers.

One common misconception about HTTPS is that the only websites that need HTTPS are those that handle sensitive communications. Every unprotected HTTP request can potentially reveal information about the behaviors and identities of your users. Although a single visit to one of your unprotected websites may seem harmless, some intruders look at the overall browsing activities of your users to make conclusions about their behaviors and intentions, and to de-anonymize their identities. For example, employees might inadvertently disclose sensitive health conditions to their employers just by reading unprotected medical articles.

HTTPS prevents intruders from being able to passively listen to communications between your websites and your users.

2. HTTPS protects the integrity of your website

Intruders both malignant and benign exploit every unprotected resource between your websites and users.

HTTPS helps prevent intruders from tampering with the communications between your websites and your users’ browsers. Intruders include intentionally malicious attackers, and legitimate but intrusive companies, that inject ads into pages.

Intruders exploit unprotected communications to trick your users into giving up sensitive information or installing malware, or to insert their own advertisements into your resources. For example, some third parties inject advertisements into websites that potentially break user experiences and create security vulnerabilities.

Intruders exploit every unprotected resource that travels between your websites and your users. Images, cookies, scripts, HTML … they’re all exploitable. Intrusions can occur at any point in the network, including a user’s machine, a Wi-Fi hotspot, or a compromised internet provider, just to name a few.

3. Increased Customer Confidence

With all of the buzz about https going around, more and more users are selectively looking for a secure https connection when visiting a website.

A secure connection reassures customers that your website can be trusted thus giving tem peace of mind that their information is safe.

4. Increased Conversions

While most users may not have a complete technical understanding of secure connections, many of them want to make sure the site is https if they are providing personal information.

We already see a difference in conversion rates between HTTP and HTTPS sites. Especially with Google labelling http sites as unsafe. When users see those red labels, something as simple as entering a name, email, and phone number into a simple enquire or e-news subscription form can cause anxiety and second thoughts for most users.

5. HTTPS is the future of the web

Aside from providing critical security and data integrity for both your websites and your users' personal information, HTTPS is a requirement for many new browser features.

HTTPS doesn't just block misuse of your website. It's also a requirement for many cutting-edge features and an enabling technology for app-like capabilities.

Powerful, new web platform features, such as taking pictures or recording audio, enabling offline app experiences with service workers, or building progressive web apps, require explicit permission from the user before executing.

6. SEO Advantages of Switching to HTTPS

Google prefers sites that are trusted and certified, because users are guaranteed that the site will encrypt their information and thus provide that extra level of security.

Google is now using HTTPS as a ranking signal. It is pretty clear from data analysis that HTTPS sites have a ranking advantage over http-URLs, that is why you should make sure, that you are on the beneficial side of this switch, confidential information or not.

7. How does it work in a nutshell

When a site goes through the motions of obtaining a certificate, the issuer becomes a trusted third party. When your browser recognizes a secure web site, it uses the information in the certificate to verify that the site is what it claims to be. A user who knows the difference between HTTP and HTTPS can now buy with confidence.

To get a little bit more detailed, data sent using HTTPS is secured via TLS (Transport Layer Security protocol), which provides three key layers of protection:
•    Encryption - encrypting the exchanged data to keep it secure.
•    Data Integrity - data cannot be modified or corrupted during transfer without being detected.
•    Authentication - proves that your users communicate with the intended website.

8. The common argument against HTTPS

After all that there might remain only one argument against implementing HTTPS on your web site – the cost of purchasing a certificate. You may say that since you don’t handle any sensitive information on your web site, the cost of purchasing the certificate is too much for you or is simply redundant.

If we haven’t jet convinced you with all the benefits of the HTTPS vs. HTTP listed above, let us assure you, that basic certificates can be purchased for as little as 2 € per year and many server hosting providers are now days just throwing it in for free. Now, keep in mind that we are talking about basic security certificates here which will defiantly not be enough if you are collecting user information for running something like a web shop. But if you do not handle any sensitive information, this is really all you need to jump on the HTTPS bandwagon and start reaping the rewards.

How Do You Switch Your Site to HTTPS?

Now, if you’re finally ready to make the switch to HTTPS, at Moxy we are more than happy to handle the process for you. We know our stuff. After all we are experts in our industry.