With over a billion websites on the Internet today and as the owner of one of those sites, you may think that there is not much chance that a cybercriminal will target yours. Recent estimates show that 1% of all websites have an SSL certificate. 40% of the organic search results for Google’s first page include an HTTPS website. These stats clearly show the importance of an SSL certificate for websites.
Cybercriminals won’t care if your website is small, they use tools that run free tests on every site they come across, just collecting information. If they can’t use the information, they can always sell it to someone else who can. As an individual, you could own a personal website or even a small online business that you think is despicable. There is value in everything and even a small site contains some kind of data. Maybe a username and password that you use for all of your online accounts? If you own a small business, your website represents your brand and reputation, along with tons of more valuable information that belongs not only to you but to your customers as well. Let’s learn why it is important to safeguard your website and also how to do it?
Summary
Table of Contents
- What’s the difference between HTTPS and HTTP?
- Why is it necessary to upgrade my website to HTTPS
- How do I migrate to secure HTTPS sites?
- How do I fix unsecured pages?
- What’s the difference between HTTPS and HTTP?
- What is the HTTP protocol exactly?
HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It is used by the World Wide Web in order to exchange formatted messages or information. Based on different commands, it tells web servers or browsers what actions they should take.
HTTP protocol
This means that when you type a URL into your browser, it sends an HTTP request to the webserver asking it for the page requested. HTML controls the format of pages, which allows for consistency across websites.
The HTTP protocol quickly proved its limits. Hacking these sites became easy after malicious people learned the basics of information sharing. Network administrators devised a method to secure the information passing through sites. This procedure is based upon the SSL certificate, which encrypts online data between sender and recipient. This is how HTTPS came to be.
What’s HTTPS?
The encryption process means that computers (senders or receivers) send a code to one another, which is made up a random string of characters. If someone attempts to intercept the message they will only be able to find data that cannot be read without the decryption codes. This code, also known as an “SSL Certificate”, contains the keys that will decrypt the message. Secure Sockets Layer security (SSL) is used to protect the transfer. Transport Layer Security (TLS) is used for security. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is the process of exchanging public keys with an SSL certificate to enable HTTPS and SSL.
HTTPS is therefore the most secure version of HTTP. Secure websites can encrypt user data in three layers to protect their connection.
Encryption is a method that ensures that no trace of the user’s activities can be made and that their data cannot be stolen.
Data integrity is the protection of files during transmission.
Further, authentication increases protection against attacks.
Why should I update my website to HTTPS?
You might be wondering if such a strict protocol would negatively impact our ranking in the SERPs. The opposite is true. HTTPS is an essential component of search engine ranking and is crucial for high rankings.
Why?
Google’s main goal is to provide relevant results and sites that are safe, fast, and easy to navigate. While the possibility of obligatory HTTPS has been around for a while, the official announcement by Google in 2015 that the HTTPS protocol favored site pages’ ranking was made. The presence or absence an HTTPS protocol can make it possible to distinguish between sites of equal quality and performance.
With the numerous hacking and fraud scandals, we have informed Internet users who are able to identify the basic features of secure sites, such as the “little lock at the top” of the URL. HTTPS signals trust to Internet users and make them more likely to return to the site. It should also be noted that Chrome users see the website in HTTP blocked, which means that it is insecure. The bounce rate of these sites is something we cannot imagine. The ranking criterion is also the bounce rate. We here at Alavps provide you with all the assistance needed for your SSL certificate.
How do I migrate to HTTPS?
Do you feel now that HTTPS is essential for natural SEO & safe guard your website? Let’s get started with the SSL certificate implementation! These are the key steps.
Create a backup of your website
Although it is not necessary for the migration from HTTP to HTTPS, creating a backup is essential. You should consider working on a test server.
Get your SSL Certificate
Many hosting companies offer the ability to switch your site to HTTPS via their client interface. You can also choose from several SSL certificate suppliers if your hosting provider doesn’t offer this option. These are some of the most trusted:
GoGetSSL
SSLs.com
There are 3 types of SSL certificates available:
Domain validation: One domain or subdomain. A simple email validation.
Organization or company validation: A subdomain or domain that requires additional paperwork as a result of a company audit. This certificate can be delivered in 1 to 3 business days. This type of certificate offers higher-level security.
Extended validation: One domain, subdomain or company verification is all that’s required. It is shipped within 2-7 days. The green address bar indicates Internet user confidence.
You can also get a free SSL certificate from Certbot and Let’s Encrypt.
Certbot is very easy to use. Certbot automatically retrieves and deploys SSL/TLS certificates for your web server.
Get your SSL certificate
The tool you use will determine how the SSL certificate is installed.
This guide will show you how to install SSL certificates depending on which server you use (Apache, Nginx …).).
You will receive detailed documentation allowing semi-automatic installation of Let’s Encrypt when you deploy Certbot with Let’s Encrypt. You can choose an “advanced mode” to have better control over operations.
Install the 301 in your .htaccess
Site migration continues with the implementation of 301 redirects (from HTTP pages to HTTPS pages), directly through .htaccess. This file is typically located at the root site.
Once you find it, add these lines to your document:
To redirect all traffic:
>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond% {HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (. *) Https: //% {HTTP_HOST}% {REQUEST_URI} [R, L]
To redirect specifying the:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond% {HTTP_HOST} ^ VotreDomaine \ .com [NC] RewriteCond% {HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^ (. *) $ Https: //% {HTTP_HOST}% {REQUEST_URI}
After you’re done, ensure that there are no additional pages in either version. Otherwise, it will be considered duplicate content.
You can put online
After everything is calibrated, it’s time to go through the SSL test. This will give you a score for the SSL implementation on your site. It will also show you the details of any issues and possible solutions.
Update your site environment
Moving from HTTP to HTTPS requires that you modify the entire site’s environment, that is all software and tools that are related to it. Search Console, Google Analytics,… The site in HTTPS must also be added to Google tools. Also, you should update the site’s map. Sites that are managed using a CMS such as WordPress or Prestashop often have extensions that automatically do this. Also, you should check the robots.txt files and make any necessary changes to hard links within your site. Botify and Oncrawl are excellent crawlers that can detect URLs and link with HTTP.
Don’t forget to update your links to your site on your social media profiles, your email signatures, and any possible PBNs. The site environment update may take longer than the migration.
How do I fix unsecured pages?
Checking out the HTTPS protocol
Verify that the home page is on “https”, and that your browser shows that the connection is secure using the right parameters (green padlock and chrome “Secure”) and that you can click on the padlock to verify that the certificate remains valid.
If the SSL certificate is not installed or updated, it must be installed.
Make sure URLs that begin with “http” rather than “https” redirect to the correct URL “https”. It should be a redirect to 301 and not 302 URLs.
If URLs that begin with “http” open a page without redirect or 404, this means that pages on your site may be duplicated. In such cases, it is imperative to implement 301 redirects immediately.
It is then necessary to modify internal links. These links point to URLs in HTTP. This is why you should do it. Fluidize the internal mesh to ensure that the robot can crawl efficiently and with as few redirects as possible.
The presence of HTTP URLs on the site mesh
To determine if your site contains meshed URLs (= linked), we recommend you use a crawler. This is what we do in an audit.
The crawler will change links that point at these URLs to redirect to correct HTTPS pages if it finds HTTP URLs.
Summary of HTTPS Enforcement Measures
Select a high-quality SSL/TLS security certificate.
All URLs on your site should be redirected from the http to the https versions.
You can update all of your internal links by asking your Smartkeyword trainer for a list. This is often included in a technical audit.
If it is a property that has a URL prefix, please update your Google search console.
Conclusion
Migration from HTTP to HTTPS, while an important step in the site’s life, is relatively simple from a technical perspective. To avoid any mistakes that could lead to serious penalties for your site, it is important to carefully follow the instructions provided by the various tools. You should begin to see an improvement in your natural traffic.
It is important to remember that HTTPS is not sufficient to protect your site against hackers, especially if WordPress is used, which is well-known for its security flaws. You can use tools such as Netsparker, OpenVAS and Securityheaders to verify and enforce the site’s security.