Top 3 tips on how to increase website security for your business

Learn why securing your business’s website is crucial for data protection and overall success

Website security is critical to keeping hackers and cyber criminals from accessing sensitive information from your website. Without the proper security protocols in place, your business risks malware attacks, data breaches and more. 

A website without safety measures also harms your reputation and appears as untrustworthy which could potentially result in your business losing customers. 

A secure website is now considered standard for businesses in any industry. It shows visitors that your site is verified and safe from hackers, giving them increased confidence to make purchases and enter personal information. 

Continue reading to learn our top tips on how to increase website security for your business, plus how we can help.

#1: Utilize HTTPS. 

HTTPS, or hypertext transfer protocol secure, is the secure version of HTTP that adds encryption and authentication to websites. HTTPS allows users to enter credit card information, contact information, banking information and login information as securely as possible. 

Securing your website with HTTPS protocol brings many benefits to you and your site users such as: 
 

• Security. When users visit any website, they expect their private information to be secure and private. Implementing HTTPS gives users confidence to enter credit card and other sensitive information, without fear of it being stolen.
• Privacy. It’s important that users who visit your website feel that their information will be kept private and secure. 
• Encryption, data integrity, and authentication. Google identifies these three factors as the main reasons to move your website over to HTTPS. With Google as the main search engine you want your website to rank highly on, it’s essential to follow their advice when working to build a successful website. 
• Lower bounce rate. When someone visits a website that is not secured with HTTPS, Google and other search engines give a warning message which usually scares most visitors away from a site.
• Trust. HTTPS protocol gives your site’s users a higher level of trust. When customers trust a website, they’re more likely to make purchases or enter their information to be added to a mailing list. 
• SEO ranking boost. Google search algorithms have started to prioritize security to create a safer internet experience. In 2014, Google announced that HTTPS will give your website a slight ranking boost, providing an SEO advantage to switching your website to HTTPS.
• Authority and reputation. HTTPS provides an added layer of protection that prevents data breaches and hacking attempts, effectively maintaining the authority and reputation of your website and company.

Related resource:

10 signs your website needs an update

#2: Get an SSL certificate. 

An SSL (secure sockets layer) certificate creates an encrypted connection between your website server and a user’s web browser, allowing your customers’ private information to stay private. 

This added layer of security also gives customers confidence to enter credit card information and addresses into your site without the fear of an unwanted party accessing the information. 

SSL certificates are fairly inexpensive and once installed, it activates the HTTPS protocol. After you have installed the certificate, be sure to check that there are no issues with it by running tests found on ssllabs.com. 

Before a certificate authority issues an SSL certificate, they must validate the organization and ensure that the organization owns and operates the domain. There are three different types of SSL. While the level of encryption is the same for all, the vetting and verification process is different: 
 

• Domain Validation (DV). An organization must prove that they own the domain in order to receive a DV SSL certificate. For this certificate no identity information is vetted and other than the encryption information, no other information is displayed. 
• Organization Validation (OV). The certificate authority will check the right of the organization to use the domain and some vetting of the organization. This type of certificate will display the organization’s name and address. 
• Extended Validation (EV). For this type of certificate, the certificate authority will check the right of the organization to use the domain name and thorough vetting on the organization, including a full background check. This type of validation costs the most and takes the longest, but is also the most trustworthy type of certificate. 

Learn more: 

How secure is your website? 

#3: Add reCAPTCHA.

ReCAPTCHA is a free service from Google that helps to protect websites from spam and abuse by using a CAPTCHA system—a test that distinguishes between a human and an automated user. 

The CAPTCHA tests are easy for humans to solve but harder for bots and other software to solve. For example, a CAPTCHA test may show you 9 pictures and ask you to click on all the pictures that have a car. 

Adding reCAPCTHA to your site helps you block bots and other automated or malicious software from entering, thus creating a safer site for your customers. 

Looking for a web design team to create a secure business website?

At Different Perspective, our web design team is proud to utilize our years of experience to design and develop secure, responsive websites for businesses like yours that increase visibility, convert leads into customers and properly represent businesses online

In addition to creating a custom design and creative copy, we’ll install all the security features your website needs during development including HTTPS, SSL certification and reCAPTCHA, so that it’s fully secure for you and your customers at launch.  

Ready to increase your website visibility and conversions? 

Contact us today to get started!