It is likely that you have been informed if you operate a business website that you ought to transition from HTTP to HTTPS. Is there any greater distinction apart from the additional ‘s’?
As a proprietor, you understand that even a minimal adjustment in a product, marketing strategy, or anything else pertaining to your business can have a considerable effect.
Will adopting the HTTPS protocol have a major influence on your website and enterprise?
After all, some users won’t notice the difference.
In this article, we will talk about the distinctions between HTTP and HTTPS and analyze if you should transition to the latter.
HTTPS vs. HTTP: What’s the Difference?
Both HTTP and HTTPS are protocols that regulate how data is sent through the internet. Let’s compare HTTP and HTTPS to get a better idea of their individual functions and operation.
What is HTTP?
HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, a form of communication for exchanging data created by Tim Berners-Lee. This protocol establishes standard regulations for communication between web servers and web browsers.
A major issue with HTTP is that it utilizes hypertext comprised of plain text, thus rendering the information unsecured.
Hackers can access the information exchanged between the two systems due to the consequence.
As an illustration, if you head to a website that utilizes HTTP and necessitates you to generate login details, Because the information transferred between the servers and your browser isn’t encoded, it can be easier for hackers to capture and crack your login details.
Search engines like Google now show a symbol of an unlocked lock on web addresses that use HTTP. The message displayed will indicate that the website you are attempting to visit is insecure.
The downside of HTTP is that it can only process one request at once. A complete document is reconstructed from different sub-documents. It takes numerous requests in order to display a single web page. Obviously, this can cause slower loading times for websites and pages that are particularly large.
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS is an elevated form of HTTP which deploys SSL or TLS to scramble the data transferred between a server and a user.
Secure sockets layer is abbreviated as SSL, while transport layer security is referred to as TLS. The two technologies form a safe, locked communication line between the web server and the internet browser that are engaging in communication.
Using Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) provides an extra level of protection, making it a superior option in comparison to the other protocol. Particularly, online platforms that process confidential information, such as e-commerce websites or sites where users must sign in via identification numbers and passwords, need to pay close attention to security.
HTTPS is a safer alternative to the HTTP protocol.
This safety afforded by HTTPS ensures users’ information is secure in three layers:
- Encryption: This helps ensure a user’s activity can’t be tracked or their information be stolen.
- Data integrity: HTTPS prevents files from being corrupted when transferring between a web server and website and vice-versa.
- Authentication: HTTPS authenticates websites. Authentication helps build trust with users.
It is very clear that there is a big contrast between HTTP and HTTPS.
HTTPS vs. HTTP: Which is Better for SEO?
I’ll answer this immediately: HTTPS is better for SEO. Here’s why.
HTTPS is Better for Site Security
When evaluating websites, the most critical factor considered by search engines is the security of the site.
Google has stated that one of the factors that they consider when placing websites on their search engine results page is whether they are using the HTTPS protocol.
HTTPS has a significant edge over HTTP in terms of SEO.
HTTPS Referral Data is Clearer
In addition to heightened security, an advantage of HTTPS compared to HTTP is enhanced visibility of referral data. If your website still functions using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol and you monitor the relevant analytics data through Google Analytics, the data coming from referral sources may be classified as “direct” traffic.
Using HTTPS allows you to gain a better understanding of the source of your traffic. Hence, you have a superior capability to formulate more successful SEO tactics.
Using HTTPS Builds Authority
Browsers such as Chrome alert users when they visit a website using the HTTP protocol, which implies that it is not secure. Because of this, many people immediately abandon the site. A high bounce rate can have a detrimental effect on your SEO due to it being an indication of poor user experience. Google has deemed user experience vital, stating that page experience is one of their foremost rankings considerations.
When someone checks out a website that uses HTTPS, search engines can tell them that it is secure. These safety signals motivate customers to engage more with that website.
The Speed Factor
Search engines take into account the loading speed of both websites and individual pages when assessing their position in the ranking. HTTP was particularly susceptible to slowed performance in terms of speed. This is due to the fact that HTTP is limited to making only one unfulfilled request at a time per TCP connection. Consequently, uploading speeds became slower as webpages and sites needed more resources.
HTTPS, on the other hand, is faster than HTTP. The response time is decreased, so search engines tend to rank websites utilizing HTTPS higher than those sticking to HTTP.
Can You Use Both HTTP and HTTPS?
In practice, you can use both HTTP and HTTPS. You can use your secure HTTPS connection to download some files and your HTTP connection to get others.
Using both methods of communication to provide information is referred to as “mixed content”, wherein both HTTP and HTTPS can appear on the same page. The initial request is sent through an HTTPS connection, making the communication safe.
Using HTTP to acquire some webpages compromises safety and leaves you exposed to being subject to a man-in-the-middle attack. A malicious actor can take advantage of your website or user data by discovering a vulnerability and then using it to spy on your communications.
Usually, browsers warn visitors you’re serving mixed content. In most cases, however, it will be too late. The insecure requests would have already happened.
Thus, although it is possible to use both HTTP and HTTPS together, many web browsers are starting to impede sites that contain blended content. Google is encouraging everyone to move to an all HTTPS-based internet, so it’s in your best interest to make the switch to HTTPS.
How to Switch From HTTP to HTTPS
In this area, we will demonstrate the process of transitions from HTTP to HTTPS on an existing web page. Before we commence, figure out which kind of SSL certification to purchase. It all depends on what your website requires, which could be a single-domain, multi-domain, or Wildcard type of certificate.
Next, it’s time to enable HTTPS on your website. You can accomplish this through the control panel of your web hosting account. For this tutorial, we’ll use Hostinger’s hPanel.
- Log in to your account and access hPanel. Scroll down to the Advanced section and click on SSL.
- Check that the status of the certificate is set to Active, then click the Force HTTPS button.
- Wait for the success notification to appear.
Switching From HTTP to HTTPS: Risks and Best Practices
It is not unusual for websites to have a few difficulties and SEO problems after moving to HTTPS. For example, some websites may initially see a dip in traffic because of a lower position in search engine results page rankings.
Here are a few likely risks and methods to prevent them.
Visitors Can’t Access Certain Web Pages
After making the switch, check your site’s internal links. It is essential to refresh and redirect them to the secure HTTPS website. If not, visitors may be presented with a mistake page or get a notification saying “This webpage is unavailable”.
It is imperative to revise internal links if you are deploying links of the absolute variety, such as https://www.yoursite.com/page-title. These URLs have the entirety of a website’s address, from the protocol and the domain name to the direction or spot of the page inside the folder framework of your website.
It might not be required to take this action if you use relative URLs like /page-title. Relative URLs do not need the full web address, only the specific route, thus assuming that the link originates from the same website and comes from the same root website.
Search Engines Can’t Crawl and Index Your Site Properly
There is a possibility that search engines like Google may encounter difficulties retrieving and sorting through your site’s content after making the transition to HTTPS.
Google uses AI to go to web pages and “scan” their content, which is referred to as crawling. All the web pages collected by Google are then registered on its index so that it may provide information when people make a query.
You can check for any crawl or indexing issues with the help of the Google Search Central account located in your site’s Google Webmaster Tools. To avoid this issue, site owners should do the following:
Create URL redirects. Make sure all of your website’s pages have been redirected to the HTTPS version.
Redirects are crucial during a search engine’s crawling process. It assists search engine programs in understanding that the URLs stored in their database should be switched out with a fresh one.
If a page is not redirected, people may come across an error message saying 404 Not Found. If it is not corrected, a web page’s position on a search engine listing can be reduced with time, potentially resulting in more people exiting the site quickly and less people visiting. This ultimately jeopardizes a site’s SEO strategy.
Update your sitemap. This is a necessary step after converting to HTTPS. Making adjustments to your URLs to drive them to the new HTTPS pages assists with search engines being able to explore the new pages effectively. Similarly, renewing your sitemap enables them to rapidly catalogue any fresh website material.
This is an important element to consider when formulating your SEO tactics as sitemaps contain valuable data regarding the website. The features to consider are the rate at which the website updates, where each web page is situated, and the significance of every page.
After you transition to using HTTPS on your site, you should make sure to revise your sitemap to signal search engines there is no replicated content that could negatively impact your SEO.
Mixed Content Error
A mixed content warning may appear when a browser attempts to access a site that has recently enabled SSL/TLS security. The web browser may alert the user with a message of “Unsafe” or “Partially Unsafe”.
Often, the cause is misconfiguration during the installation process. This issue happens when the HTML code of a web page is in HTTPS format, yet some of the components in the webpage are still being loaded through traditional HTTP.
For instance, when a web browser accesses a secure website, the page itself may be secure, but the accompanying visuals, videos, and scripts may not be protected.
You can repair a combined content mistake on WordPress by employing an SSL plug-in like Really Simple SSL.
Best Practices
We recommend adhering to certain procedures to avoid or lessen the problems already outlined when transitioning from HTTP to HTTPS. Some of these tips are even recommended by Google.
- Use robust SSL certificates. Not all SSL certificates are made equally, and their prices reflect that. Some can cost thousands of dollars per year, while others are free. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to choose the most expensive option on the market. However, we recommend conducting proper research before selecting an SSL certificate that best suits your site’s size and type.
- Allow Google to crawl and index your HTTPS pages. A sitemap and a robots.txt file give Google’s bots clear instructions while crawling your site. As we discussed above, it avoids issues with duplicate content and site errors.
- Regularly monitor your website’s migration to HTTPS. Access your site’s analytics to check if everything’s in order and there are no errors or sudden drops in traffic. Keeping tabs on your site’s performance is an easy way to ensure smooth migration to HTTPS.
- Stay up-to-date with security protocols. Avoid simple mistakes like expired SSL certificates, incorrectly registering your website information, or using old protocol versions.
Conclusion
We suggest changing to HTTPS in order to increase the security and confidence of the website. Choosing between HTTP and HTTPS is something we encourage.
While HTTP is a protocol used for transferring data over the internet, HTTPS is a more secure form of it. The key distinction between the two is that HTTPS utilizes SSL/TLS to secure links between web browsers and web servers.
Implementing HTTPS on your website can bring other perks, such as having a stronger SEO presence and a faster loading rate.
Before changing over to HTTPS, keep in mind that there might be temporary setbacks and potential risks like mistakes or lower website visits. To evade them, be sure to adhere to the recommended procedures that are specified above, such as obtaining an SSL certificate that is ideal for your website kind.
