Is Your Website Secure? Don't Wait - Move From Http To Https

Updated: 9/16/24
Previous Update 10/16/22 -- Original February 8, 2017

Is your website secure? Are the websites you are visiting secure? Google is now posting a block lock symbol in the browser address bar, letting you know that the website you reached is secure. It looks like this:

If your website is unsecure, browsers will post warnings that appear in the address bar that state that any information transferred on the site could by stolen by a cyber thief. The data stolen could be your passwords, banking information or credit card information. You will also see this in the browser address bar:

One big advantage OF SECURING YOUR WEBSITE WITH HTTPS is that it will help you improve your search engine rankingS. Google and other search engines prefer secure web sites.

How can you tell if your website or the site you are visiting is secure?

If the site displays the lock symbol next to the web address (URL), then this shows that the site encrypts data transferred and keeps it from being modified by a cyber criminal such as this image:

This was the OLD Lock Symbol on Google.

Here are Steps to Moving to HTTPS

1. Host with a dedicated IP Address **.
   For best security, SSL Certificates require your website have its own IP Address.
2. Buy a SSL Certificate
3. Activate the certificate
4. Install the certificate
5. Update your site to use HTTPS in your Server settings (like in Apache or NGINX)
6. Update all references inside your website and also the sitemap.xml file. (Change references from http://www.yourwebsite.com to https://www.yourwebsite.com)

**CityScope Hosting customers have a dedicated IP address for their website. Other hosting providers share the IP address with their other customers unless you specifically buy a dedicated IP.

After your site is using HTTPS, it is advised to start changing all your references online from http://yourwebsite.com to https://yourwebsite.com. Your web developer will have a redirection from http to https so that visitors will end up on your secure website. However, it is better to have links go directly to the correct page in online social media sites, directory listings, online maps, etc...

There are 4 variants for a website; http://domain.com, http://www.domain.com, https://domain.com and https://www.domain.com. Make sure you know the preferred URL variant for your site and then use that from now on. Don't use multiple versions.

Here is a list of places to change your website address:

• Online Directories: Yellow Pages, Yelp, Merchant Circle, CitySearch, etc...
• Social Media Accounts: Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Pinterest, etc...
• Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Google Ads, Bing Ads, etc...
• Any web sites that link to you, along with Chamber, News sources, etc...
• Make sure to use it on your business cards, brochures, banners, and newsletters, so people know just by looking at it that you have a secure site.

For questions regarding HTTPS or to get started securing your site, contact CityScope Net.