HTTP vs. HTTPS

Most business owners and managers are familiar with HTTP. It’s the data transfer protocol we’ve been using since the internet first came into existence. Everyone fully expected to use it until the end of time. However, in 2014, Google surprised everyone when they announced that it would be best for businesses to stop using HTTP and switch to HTTPS.

As soon as Google released their missive, business owners and consumers expressed concerns. The biggest worry was that making the change from HTTP to HTTPS would compromise security, making it easier for hackers to gain access to credit cards. Google rushed to assure everyone that all safety protocols would remain in place with both data transfer protocols. Google also added that one of the main reasons they wanted businesses that used the internet to collect payments to make the change was that HTTPS was safer.

The main difference between HTTP and HTTPS is the default port. The default port connected to HTTP is 80 while HTTPS uses 443. The different default port allows for an extra layer of SSL certificate encryption to be added to the HTTPS sites. Not only does the added layer of security make it more difficult for hackers to gain access to your customers’ credit card information, if they are able to get their hands on your customer files, the information is so heavily encrypted it can’t be understood.

Another reason it’s a good idea to make the change from HTTP to HTTPS is because Google has taken steps to double check that consumers are actually making a purchase from the correct business through a secure website, enhancing the user experience.

The great minds behind Google understood that many business owners would resist making the change to HTTPS. In an effort to encourage all e-commerce sites to make the leap to HTTPS, Google lowered the search engine ranking of any business that failed to change its website. While the decline wasn’t much, it could be just enough to cause you to lose your top search engine ranking to your closest competitor.

If you aren’t already using HTTPS for your e-commerce site, it’s likely you’re losing business. With Google’s release of Chrome 68 in July 2018, they instigated a program that marked all e-commerce sites that were still using HTTP as not secure, making it impossible for consumers who were using Chrome to make any purchases from your website.

Happily, converting to HTTPS is surprisingly easy.

Purchasing an SSL Certificate is the first step. While it’s possible to purchase an SSL Certificate for as little as $10, if you’re willing to spend just a little bit more, you’ll find that the website host will handle the bulk of the configuration work for you. Most business owners feel that knowing the configuration process is done quickly and accurately more than justifies paying a little more for their SSL Certificate.

The next stage for converting your website is going through each of your web pages and identifying lines that weren’t created by a CMS and converting them to CMS.

Once you’ve completed this process, you’ll find that both you and your consumers are more relaxed during each business transaction.

Intero Digital is dedicated to making sure that your e-commerce site is consistently well-ranked by Google and all other search engines. We understand that even the smallest mistake can cost you your high search engine ranking which is why we strive to ensure you have plenty of the high-quality content the search engines favor.

Contact us today and learn how we can improve your visibility.