The short answer to this question is yes. But before you take our word for it, you might be wondering what exactly https is and how it will help you.

What is https?

When visiting a website, if you see a small padlock in the address bar of your web browser, you are visiting a secure website. This means all the data you are sending or receiving is encrypted.

A non-secure website will have a URL that begins with http in the address bar, but a secure website begins with https — with the “s” standing for secure.

A few years ago, you really only needed a secure website if you were doing eCommerce and you had a checkout process whereby customers had to enter their credit card information on your site.

But now, even if your website is primarily an informational site and you are not selling products or services directly from your site, it is still recommended that you move your site to https.

Why upgrade your website to https?

Lead generation

Google Chrome, along with many other browsers, shows a “not secure” warning when users visit non-https website. If your business depends on your website to generate leads and inquiries, you should be using the https protocol so users don’t panic and leave your site due to security warnings.

Improving your organic traffic

The use of https is now a ranking factor in Google’s search algorithm. It is still unclear as to how much of a factor https plays in your search rankings, but recent research shows it is becoming a stronger ranking factor. Try it yourself, perform any Google search and you will see that the first few pages of results all begin with an https URL. Google themselves have confirmed that an https URL can serve as a deciding factor between two sites with similar information.

Convey trust and confidence

One of the more important reasons to have an https site is perception. Hacking and data breaches are everyday occurrences, and people are more concerned about online privacy and security than ever before. While your website may not be collecting sensitive information, the fact that you have an https site and visitors can see the small padlock in their browser gives them peace of mind, which translates to trust and confidence in your company. As https quickly becomes the norm, even the non-tech-savvy visitors are now starting to feel a little uneasy when they don’t see that small padlock.

Meevo is a digital marketing and development agency based in Toronto. We specialize in partnering with startups, design firms and agencies with strong creative, but limited executional resources.

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