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Why you should move your WordPress site to HTTPS

In today’s digital age, sharing our personal information with different websites is the norm. Whether it’s making a purchase or simply logging in to your favourite social media platform, we send out our personal data without a second thought.

In most cases, we trust that our data will be protected through a secure connection and those of us who are savvy enough to understand the difference between HTTP and HTTPS will only do business with companies who use the latter.

Incredibly, research performed by GlobalSign showed that over 80% of respondents would abandon a purchase if there was no HTTPS in use.

So, what is HTTPS and why does it matter?

HTTPS is an encryption method that secures the connection between your browser and your server, making it harder for third parties to intercept data passed between the two systems.

Without HTTPS, any data passed between the browser and server is insecure and easily deciphered by hackers and fraudsters. It is particularly important for ecommerce sites that accept online card payments or for sites where you collect personal information using form submissions.

A secure website not only improves trust, but it is the very minimum you can offer to your visitors.
Here are four fundamental reasons why you should move your WordPress site to HTTPS:

Security

When you enforce HTTPS, you’re guaranteeing no information passed between the server and your customer can be intercepted or stolen.

If you’re using a content management system, such as WordPress, or you host any kind of sensitive data, then setting up a secure HTTPS login is a necessary precaution you should take. This is particularly important if your site requires form submissions to be completed or enables card transactions.

SEO

Google has started using HTTPS as a ranking signal which means your website will rank better if it uses the protocol.

For now it’s a lightweight signal, but over time it is thought another HTTPS algorithm will be put in place to ensure all websites have made the switch. When this happens, using HTTPS will increasingly be the norm rather than the exception, and so you should plan to migrate sooner rather than later to avoid possible penalties.

ecommerce

HTTPS is an absolute must for ecommerce and membership websites that take card payments.

As consumers trust sites which utilise HTTPS and are more likely to buy from them – it is worth investing in making the switch. Shoppers are more likely to abort their transaction when reaching the shopping cart if your online store appears unsecured, potentially losing you a significant sum.

Affordability

In the past, obtaining the SSL certificates needed to switch to HTTPS could be expensive, but now they are easily affordable. In most cases, you don’t need to encrypt your entire site, you only need to encrypt pages that visitors will enter sensitive data.
Setting up the necessary SSL certificates to make your website HTTPS can be tricky if you’re a novice to coding which is where we come in. Here at WP Tech Support, we put your website’s security as our priority and can transfer your current WordPress site to HTTPS without any negative implications to your existing site.

We have a range of monthly payment plans to ensure that your WordPress website stays secure from hackers, is fully optimised and backed up daily. It is simple to sign up for single or multiple WordPress sites and we don’t tie you into long-term contracts. Contact us to make the change to HTTPS today!

 

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