Today, everything is available online, due to this, sharing of important and personal information is increased through web. Now the trend of online shopping is increased and which requires confidential information such as credit or debit card details. Technology brings ease in our life but also threat is always attached with innovation.
You are sharing your personal and confidential information on the web which is great subject of danger and requires high level of security. You have already given and save your confidential information on countless application and all these are under the danger zone, if the websites are not secured. The most important and secured gateway is HTTPS. HTTPS and SSL works together in direction to avoid the situation of hacking. These two are mandatory for websites where you can do transaction as it requires disclosing of confidential information.
Introduction of HTTPS
HTTPS is the acronym used for Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure. HTTPS is internet protocol which is based on encrypted HTTP in sharing the information with security layer. In HTTPS, one can easily transfer the confidential information on the web in encrypted form and used to reduce the chances of hacking. For the security, HTTPS uses TLS (Transport Layer Security) certificate for setting the encryption link between server and web browser to encrypt the data.
Encryption is converting the data into codes in order to block the unauthorized access while transmitting it over web.
Importance of moving your website to HTTPS
With the growth of internet, malicious mind also grows, and it is crucial for the websites to use the most secured system i.e. HTTPS, which helps them to secure the data of clients. It is mandatory for the big websites to have HTTPS, which requires online transaction. Following are the importance of HTTPS are written below-
Secures Confidential Information
HTTPS plays the vital role in securing the confidential and personal information of your clients. HTTPS enriches smoothness in online transaction and reduces the chances of getting hacked. If you’re not using HTTPS and information is stolen by the hacker then it will harm the image of your company as you’re are failed to protect the consumers. So the big websites as well as small websites are taking step forward to encrypt their data.
Indicates Authenticity
HTTPS is the main parameter on internet to identifying the online reputation of the website. Customers always first prefer websites having HTTPS encryption as it is considered as genuine. This will increase your sales, leave good impression on your customers and builds trust in them.
Advantage in SEO
Websites having HTTPS is also trusted by search engine not only by consumers. According to the Google algorithm, websites having TSL certificate is preferred by Google to rank them on search engine result page. So, by HTTPS you can optimize the SEO and make the website to visible on the top on Google search ranking.
Steps to move a website from HTTP to HTTPS
Now, you’re thinking about how to move your website from HTTP to HTTPS then, here is the steps to follow–
Take Backup of your Website
First of all the things, when you are trying or adding something new on your website, then for security purpose, make sure you take the backup of the website. If something happened wrong, then you can restore from that. This is the basic and initial step before moving further.
Steps to take backup: - Open your website Cpanel -> Click on Backup -> Click Download Full Website Backup (as seen in the image below)
Use SSL Certificate
Now buy the SSL certificate from your web host provider. After that, generally, host gives an option to the website owner to convert HTTP website into HTTPS. This option is named as Let’s Encrypt in your cpanel.
Edit wp-config.php File
Now, come to the hosting Cpanel again. Open the wp-config.php in your website’s root folder & add the following lines & click save.
Steps to edit wp-config.php: - Open Hosting Cpanel -> File manager -> Locate to Public_html (or the root folder) -> Select wp-config.php -> Right Click and Edit -> Add following code -> Save
define(‘FORCE_SSL_ADMIN’, true);
After updating the file then open your wordpress dashboard to check everything is going well or any error persists.
Change Website Address
Now, it’s time to update your website address by changing HTTP to HTTP.
Steps to change website address: - Open WordPress dashboard -> Settings -> General -> Now Change address (change http to https).
Update Content and Templates
Now, update the content and templates of your website. If you don’t do that, it will affect your website traffic and ranking. This is the crucial stage of website where you have to pay attention.
Test your Website
Now, it’s the time to test your website, just to check that all the steps you have done right. It is the SSL test. Add the domain name with https and submit it. Then, it will crawl the website.