If you want to gain more traffic and boost your sales, you’ve got to have a secured website. Majority of consumers tend to abandon a purchase because if unsecured connection. In the worst case, hackers attack vulnerable unsecured sites and gather information to scam people, which can lead to criminal liability.
Google is now punishing sites without hypertext transfer protocol secure or HTTPS, causing rank and traffic deterioration. There are many good reasons why you need to ensure that your website is secured. A secured website can affect your overall site performance, the safety of your customers, and all aspects of your business.
Here are the reasons why your website should be secured:
- Protect Sensitive Information
As shown on the latest report of the Australian site VPN Compass, cybersecurity is now becoming a growing concern, with 2018 marked as the year of an accelerated cybersecurity breach. That’s why it’s important to assess your site’s security and make changes as needed.
Your customers provide sensitive data over the internet through your website, including personal and financial information. The data is transferred from one server to another until it reaches its final destination — your site. During the process, cyber attackers can easily copy sensitive information, leading to identity theft and scam. The best way to prevent these from happening is by sending data in unrecognizable written code or HTTPS encrypts.
Here are the facts about HTTPS encryption:
- An HTTPS designation on your site’s URL shows online users that your site is verified authentic.
- An SSL secure website has a padlock symbol beside the URL or next to the HTTPS.
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard or PCI DSS requires eCommerce businesses to have an SSL certificate. All debit and credit card transactions require an SSL certificate for data security when processing financial transactions.
2. Peace of Mind
If your website is secure, you and your visitors will have peace of mind. The data transferred will be kept safe without worrying about sensitive information to be used to deceive or scam people. Securing your website needs constant monitoring because even if you have an SSL certificate, hackers are becoming smarter and more advanced as time goes by.
Protecting your website takes a little bit of technical know-how. If you want a career as a system administrator or study information technology to protect your site, you can find a lot of online resources or classes offering free and reasonably priced IT training and short courses.
- Avoid User Browser Alerts
Web browsers, like Chrome and Firefox, notify users about an unsecured website by displaying a warning or not loading a site without a valid SSL certificate. Non-secured websites are generally those HTTP sites collecting information such as payment information, passwords, and other personal data.
Here’s how browsers and search engines notify users about unsecured sites:
- Displaying screen information like ‘Not Secure,’ ‘Invalid SSL Certificate,’ or ‘Browsing on Unsecured Site’
- Won’t load the web page
- Improve Ranking and Traffic
While Google penalizes unsecured websites by killing their ranking and traffic, secured websites or SSL-authenticated sites are rewarded with increased ranking and traffic. Google gives preference to secured sites by helping brand awareness to increase traffic, conversions, and sales. Talk to your web developer to ensure you have a powerful and secure web host for your site security.
Here are the things you need to look for in web host for website security:
- Includes SSL certificate
- Content Delivery Network or CDN for optimal load times
- Easy updates
- Daily backups
- Development support
- Secure FTP protocol or SFTP, including server-side firewalls
- Increase Customer Trust
Never allow scammers to use your site to steal people’s information. Most importantly, make your website secure to keep the trust and confidence of your customers. Being tagged as ‘Not a Trusted Site’ can be your greatest nightmare because people may lose faith in your business and find another similar product or service somewhere else.
Here’s how an unsecured website affects customers:
- Identity theft or stealing customers’ data
- Fraud or using personal or financial information to scam other people
- Poor customer experience and engagement
Conclusion
Website security is a major topic today because many websites are now affected by a cybersecurity breach. Millions of personal data were stolen last year, and you cannot afford to risk your business because of not addressing security issues before they even arise. Take action by talking to your website developer, changing a more secure web host, and obtaining an SSL certificate to keep your website safe.