What is HTTPS? What is the use of it?

I believe that you are familiar with “http”, you have been reading this prefix from the first day you surfed the world wide web (WWW). All web pages’ URL starts with “http://”. HTTP means HyperText Transfer Protocol. In a nutshell, HTTP is the protocol for web page transfer, therefore all Internet locations begin with it. However, all data transferred via HTTP is not encrypted and it is possible for third parties to intercept.

For a long long time, people just use websites as a public information source, that’s fine not to encrypt the transfer. Due to the speedy Internet technology development, more web apps and e-Commerce websites appear, enormous private data passes on the Internet. For instance, credit card information, personal information, password etc. It is very risky to transfer with unsecured HTTP. Therefore computer scientists proposed a secure version of HTTP, or “HTTP Secure”, “HTTPS” in short.

HTTPS is a secured protocol to transfer web pages on the Internet.

Once a website enables HTTPS, all transfer will be encrypted. The encryption brings 3 pros:

1. Confidentiality – to avoid third party interception
2. Integrity – receiver can detect if the data is tampered
3. Authenticity – receiver can guarantee the sender identity

Why is HTTPS good for e-Commerce?

An e-Commerce web portal transfers a lot of sensitive information, for example, personal information of clients. Payment gateway also transmits credit card and banking information. All this data could be intercepted or tampered by hackers if there is no encryption, and nobody will trust e-Commerce anymore. Nowadays, almost all e-Commerce websites or online shops enable HTTPS to protect both the seller and the buyers.

Since 2018, Google ranks HTTPS websites higher in organic search. HTTPS benefits SEO of the business websites and strengthens the brand impression to customers.

How to know if a website has HTTPS?

Simply open a website with a web browser (e.g. Google Chrome), if a “lock” appears in front of the URL (as shown in the picture), it means the website is HTTP-enabled.

If a website doesn’t support HTTPS, Google Chrome will show an unsafe warning.

How to use HTTPS on my website?

First you need to obtain a “Secure Sockets Layer Certificate” or SSL Cert., there are 3 levels for SSL Cert., namely Domain Validation, Organizational Validation and Extended Validation. An international organization promoted by mainstream tech firms called Let’s Encrypt (LE) provides the basic level SSL Cert. for free. Get one free and install it onto your website.

At the same time, many web hosting companies also provide LE SSL Cert. service.

(pnetform Web Design company will help our clients to install LE SSL Cert.)

If enterprise clients need organizational validation or extended validation, they can purchase the Cert from suppliers. The annual fee is around dozens dollars to 2,000 dollar (USD). These SSL Cert suppliers will have a detailed inspection of authenticity and it is suitable for larger companies and organizations.

HTTPS is needed for e-Commerce and company websites

In summary, HTTPS is a necessity nowadays for all websites. It brings confidence and safety to your consumers, and it also raises the quality of SEO and SEM. In order to widespread HTTPS, main tech firms form the international organization “Let’s Encrypt” to issue free basic SSL Cert. If you value the company website and online marketing, you must know the importance of secured Internet usage.

All the clients of pnetform Web Design are using HTTPS. If you need web design service, kindly contact pnetform at [email protected]