Is your URL secure? This has not been a huge issue until recently, but it is becoming more important now.

HTTPS (as opposed to HTTP) provides critical security and data integrity for your website(s). Even more important, it provides data integrity and personal information assurance to your users. It’s a label that tells your customers that they can trust your site – and by extension, your business.

According to to Google’s Web fundamentals Guide:

  • Intruders both malignant and benign exploit every unprotected resource between your websites and users.
  • Many intruders look at aggregate behaviors to identify your users.
  • HTTPS doesn’t just block misuse of your website. It’s also a requirement for many cutting-edge features and an enabling technology for app-like capabilities such as service workers.

Security is particularly important now for organizations of all kinds, as they strive to capture lead information by offering incentives such as downloadable e-books and newsletters which require site visitors to complete a form on their website. Prospective customers want the confidence that their personal data is secure and protected as they research and (hopefully!) request more information. And you want the security of knowing that your website content is accurate, up to date, and protected against would-be intruders.

It’s worth noting that HTTPS is also a known Google ranking factor. For all these reasons, migrating your site to HTTPS hosting can make a significant difference. Here’s a link to an article on how you can do this yourself.

Acquiring and retaining customers in the digital age is challenging. Small things – many of which are neither obvious nor expensive – can often make a big difference.