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

Updated 6/26/22
Original February 8, 2017, Updated 4/7/17

Is your website secure? Are the websites you are visiting secure? Google is now posting the "Not Secure" in the browser address bar, letting you know that the website you reached is not 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.

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?

In the address bar the beginning of the address will state either http:// or https://.

Example: http://www.cityscope.net     or    https://www.cityscope.net

CityScope is secure and shows the green lock symbol, see below:

Google changed this to a black lock symbol and dropped the "Secure https://www" part.

With the "s" added at the end of http With the lock symbol this shows that the site encrypts data transferred and keeps it from being modified by a cyber criminal.

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

**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 from http:// to https://. 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. This can be done over a period of time.

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 My Business, Bing Places, etc..
• Google Ads, Bing Ads, etc...
• Any web sites that link to you, along with Chamber, News sources, etc...
• Use it on Printed documents 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.