The Power Of UI
User Interface (UI), not to be confused with User Experience (UX), though both are vital to website usability, is one…
Why Your Website Should be Using an SSL
HTTPS provides a number of benefits for both your website and it’s users.
SECURITY & PRIVACY
This is built up several parts although a lot of users think that the benefits of HTTPS are only privacy based and they overlook the other benefits.
ENCRYPTION
If your website is using HTTPS this means the data that is sent between your web server and browser is done so securely so no-one can ears drop on what is being transmitted. This prevents any sensitive information (like credit card numbers or passwords) being leaked.
DATA INTEGRITY
There’s been some recent cases where data carriers have been caught inserting adverts, tracking codes and compressing the quality of videos. If you run your site under HTTPS it ensures the data being sent back and forth can’t be tampered with. ‘Man in the middle’ attacks are reduced massively keeping your site more secure.
AUTHENTICATION
HTTPS helps assure your users that they are communicating with the correct website.
USER TRUST
Web Browsers are starting to tell to users the status of their connection to your website.
UNENCRYPTED
If your website is unencrypted, you’ll just get the basic web page icon…
ENCRYPTED
If your website is encrypted, you’ll get a little text box alerting users it’s a secure site and a green padlock. If you purchase a higher level certificate the ‘Secure’ message can even say your company name.
Certificates increase conversation rates massively due to the fact that users are more likely to trust your site. The CA Security Council found that 42% of people “understand the green bar means greater safety”. British retailer Fitness Footwear saw a 13.3% drop in cart abandonment and a 16.9% increase in conversions to sales.
SEO
Google has recently started to include HTTPS as one of their ranking factors and that’s because they believe sites that use HTTPS are certified, trusted and should have better security.
SPEED
If your site is running on HTTPS then you can even take advanced of HTTP version 2. HTTP2 is the first major revision to HTTP protocol since it was introduced in 1999. HTTP2 offers a significant speed boost by multiplexing multiple requests over a single connection. This means that browsers can request all your site assets at once rather than having to do multiple requests.
FUTURE PROOF
As HTTPS becomes more ‘standard’ access to some HTML5 5 APIs such as geolocation, user media and device motion/orientation all require HTTPS.
In the latest version of Chrome (Version 52) if a user was to visit a site that runs on an insecure connection they’d be shown a little popup message prompting the user to be careful about what information they share with your site.
OVERVIEW
If your website is transmitting data, or you want a little SEO boost, get your site running on HTTPS. Unsure how to do this? Get in touch with me and we can discuss your options.
