Use HTTPS for encrypted connections - SSL certificate

rifathasan · Post by **rifathasan** » Sat Jan 04, 2025 4:09 am

One of the most forgotten ways to improve WordPress security is to install an SSL certificate and run your site over HTTPS . HTTPS ( Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure ) is a mechanism that allows your browser or web application to securely connect to a website. A big misconception is that if you don’t accept credit cards, you don’t need SSL . Well, let’s explain a few reasons why HTTPS is important for more than just e-commerce. Many hosts, including Kinsta, offer free SSL certificates with Let’s Encrypt.

Safety
Of course, the biggest reason for HTTPS is the added security, and yes, this does apply to e-commerce sites. However, how important is your login information ? For those of you with multi-author WordPress sites, if you are running on HTTP, every time a person logs in, that information is sent to the server in plain text. HTTPS is absolutely advertising database essential to maintaining a secure connection between your website and the browser. This way, you can prevent hackers or middlemen from accessing your site. So whether you have a blog, a news site, an agency, etc., they can all benefit from HTTPS, as it ensures that nothing is ever sent in plain text. Google has officially stated that HTTPS is a ranking factor . While it is only a small ranking factor , most of you will probably take advantage of any advantage you can get in the SERPs to get ahead of your competitors.

Trust and reliability
According to a survey conducted by GlobalSign, 28.9% of visitors look for a green address bar in their browser. And 77% of them are worried about their data being intercepted or misused online. Seeing a green padlock will give customers peace of mind knowing their data is safer.

Directions data
Many people don't realize that HTTPS to HTTP redirect data is blocked in Google Analytics . So what happens to this data? Well, most of it is simply merged into the "direct traffic" section. If someone goes from HTTP to HTTPS, the referrer is still passed along.