With more than a billion active websites, security is (or should be) a top priority for anyone who operates a website. The price of insecurity is malware, hacking, theft of digital assets, defacement and more. So, is your website secure? Probably not.
Less than one-tenth of 1% of active websites have migrated to the HTTPS protocol. The HTTPS protocol underpins HTTP/2. It’s the first major revision to the tried-and-true HTTP protocol that drives the web. HTTP/2 sites load faster, rank better in search engines and are supported by the majority of browsers.
In short, there’s no reason NOT to migrate to HTTP/2, but most websites aren’t there yet. Moving to HTTP/2 offers you a competitive opportunity, especially in terms of SEO benefits, user experience and overall website security.
Four reasons to make your website secure
Security. HTTP/2 delivers a more secure connection to websites, and avoids revealing form data and credit card information. That’s a big plus for users. If you need one really good reason to migrate your site, making your website secure might be it.
SEO. Google doesn’t willingly give up too much specific information about its ranking algorithms. Therefore, it’s a big deal for Google to let on that it gives a ranking boost to HTTPS sites over older, less secure sites. By itself, that’s a big reason to get on board with migrating your website to HTTP/2. Migrating may help you edge out your competition in search engine results.
Transaction security. Websites accomplish transaction security through a protocol known as Secure Socket Layer (SSL). If SSL is going to work correctly, it must have SSL. If you intend to sell things, process credit cards, interact with secure databases or any other similar thing on your website, this is the only way to make SSL work.
Affordability. SSL requires a certificate from a third-party authority so SSL isn’t free. In the past, a SSL certificate could set you back a bit. The cost was a prime suspect in blocking the path to making a website secure. But – the SSL certificate seas have changed. Let’s Encrypt, for example, is a free (as in $0) certificate authority. Cost is no longer a barrier in making websites secure.
Migrating a website to HTTP/2 isn’t a push-button process, but switching is well worth the time and effort. Grantstreet Creative can migrate your website from the old HTTP/1.1 protocol to HTTP/2. If you’re ready to make your website secure, please contact our creative director, < a href=mailto:[email protected]>Dave Ramsell or give Dave a call at (330) 243-0651 to set up a consultation.
Photo Credit: Linux Screenshots, via Flickr
