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6 reasons you should switch your website to https
Hello! Thanks for your question about six reasons to switch to HTTPS. The short version is that the overwhelming majority of articles and researches show that HTTPS has significant advantages over HTTP. Below you will find a list of six powerful features of HTTPS that can significantly impact website owners, along with the description as to why.
BACKGROUND
While almost all the resources and articles agree that HTTPS has many advantages over HTTP, it is important to understand why this is the case. In general, HTTPS can improve security, increase speed and help with website compatibility. But such improvements impact website owners and users in specific ways.
METHODOLOGY
To find the answer to your inquiry, I stared by gathering articles and studies done regarding the use of HTTPS versus HTTP.
I focused on the most frequently mentioned features and advantages of HTTPS and composed a list of top six features that have the most impact. Additionally, I focused on the articles by credible sources that were backed by data where possible.
SIX REASONS TO SWITCH TO HTTPS
1. Better Security
Kayce Basques, a Technical Writer at Google along with two other Google representatives agree that HTTPS is now a requirement for any website, whether they handle sensitive communication or not. The reason behind this is that many hackers can gather critical information and profile users just from metadata. In other words intruders can identify a user by looking at the aggregated user access to a non-secure website. For instance, employees can unknowingly reveal medical conditions to employers by visiting an unsecured medical website and reading unprotected medical articles.
2. Faster Speed
Contrary to the common belief, HTTPS is actually faster than HTTP when it comes to loading web pages. HTTPS is known to be "stateless", meaning it does not carry information regarding previous sessions and less information means faster transfer time. While results may vary depending on the connection speed and other factors, one test showed that HTTPS websites load 82% faster, when compared to HTTP.
3. Higher Ranking
HTTPS can help increase the website ranking among search engines. Google has been very active in encouraging website owners to switch to HTTPS. In an attempt to create a more secure web for everyone, Google has improved it's search algorithms to give an advantage to HTTPS websites. Since this is now treated as a ranking signal by the most prominent search engine on the internet, having a HTTPS website as opposed to a HTTP one, can be the difference between page 1 and page 2 of a Google search.
4. More Trustworthy
Nowadays users are trained to recognize and distinguish a secured website from an unsecured one. When a website is using a HTTPS connection, this is shown to the user in the form of a green lock on the corner of the address bar. This can form trust in users and boost user's confidence in the business.
5. Better Compatibility
In many cases, having a HTTPS connection is a requirement for using a web application. For instance Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is a Google project that provides standards for websites to increase compatibility with mobile platforms. With more users accessing the internet using personal mobile devices, having a presence in the mobile platform is critical for any website, however AMP requires HTTPS to function. Furthermore, as the need for security grows, more web applications are expected to require HTTPS to work.
6. More Future Ready
As mentioned previously, web applications are moving towards requiring HTTPS to function. More specifically, functions such as recording video, recording sound and taking pictures all require HTTPS. But more importantly, many innovative features that can disrupt the web development industry will require HTTPS. One example is the growing number of APIs that are available to web developers. APIs allow developers to interact with other platforms, such as Facebook's messaging platform, and they require HTTPS connections to be enabled.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, there are many significant benefits associated with HTTPS. Not only there are benefits that can instantly benefit website owners, such as better speed and improved security, but also having HTTPS enabled, ensures that the website is ready for what the future of web industry has to offer.