Why should you set up your online store on OpenCart on secure encrypted "https" protocol?

Those. 45% of sites that are in the TOP on search engines have switched to the https protocol long time ago , realizing that this doesn’t go away, also you can get another bonus in the site rating from search engines.

In January 2016 this indicator was 25%, in July - 30%, in October - 40%. According to forecasts of leading analyst Moz Peter Meyers, by June 2017 it will reach 50%.

This is an indisputable trend, but why? What is the crux of the problem?

Your customers give you logins, passwords, payment card information and other confidential information, on the insecure HTTP protocol on which your website is currently running. This protocol is vulnerable and creates a threat of theft of personal data by intruders.

Concern of users security on the web is a priority for Google, the company invests in this time and money and this isn’t the first year. Moreover, back in August 2014, the search giant and market monopoly stated that the presence of a secure protocol is one of the signals in the ranking algorithm of sites.

And if earlier, Google asked and strongly encouraged the transition to https, this time, Google decided to move it from a recommendatory to an mandatory point to handle this issue.

In October 2016 it also became known, already from the representative of the search giant Gary Ilsh, that a small boost in the ranking of Google, still receive all the HTTPS pages - even if there are protocol errors.

Yes, this is a recommendation, slowly flowing into a mandatory rule …

On September 8, 2016, Google officially declared: it is highly recommended to all sites to switch to a secure data transfer protocol "https" in order to ensure the security of the transfer of personal data of customers: login, password, e-mail, phone, credit card number, etc.

How does this decision affect the owners of online stores and corporate websites?

Since January 1, 2017, when you try to open your site using the Google Chrome browser (which is the most popular around the world), the browser shows the buyer a message that your resource does not provide security for data exchange, and therefore recommend leaving your site.

How would you act if you were on visitor’s place?

What happens until I do this?

• The interception of initiative by competitors who have fulfilled this requirement and are the first to receive bonuses.
• Falling of your existing positions.
• Significant decrease in the return from the cost of promotion.
• Sooner or later, you will have to make the transition, the question is only when?

What solution?

The steps of the work:

1. We buy and install a certificate for hosting.
2. We edit the engine files so they provide https and work with https.
3. We set up redirects so that by navigating to the old “http” link, visitors head to “https” link.
4. We manage robots.txt (host, sitemap).
5. We manage a site map.

How to transfer the site?

• Over the week we are working on the procedure for moving your site to https. We look at what changes should be made in the database, and what should be done in the store. All changes are written to your internal document.
• In the evening, on the selected day, we switch the site to https and make changes to the database and engine files.
• By the morning you can make changes to Google and Yandex webmasters.

What is not included in this work:

1. We do not transfer companion sites to https. If your banner ads are used from bigmir, who does not know what https is, then you have to disable this resource.
2. We do not switch to https links to third-party resources. Often, third-party resources do not support https and a link to such a resource will break them.
3. We do not transfer additional engines, including forums, which work under the same domain as the store. This is done for a separate cost.
4. Fixing errors in the work of the site. Yes, we are reviewing and editing the site files so that there are no links with http, but we are not engaged in fixing errors in the operation of the site, even if they meet us along the way. Fixing errors is the subject of a separate contract.

Terms of fulfillment: from 1 week.

What is the cost of this service?

1. For all online stores on CMS OpenCart - $ 90 (fixed cost).
2. For all other CMS, the cost is calculated based on the time spent by the programmer:

Learn in detail about how we provide programming and technical support services through this link.

How is the work evaluated:

1. You provide access to the admin, FTP and site database.
2. We perform an assessment based on information about the engine and the number of occurrences of http: // links in the engine files and the database.

References to primary sources:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6073543?hl=uk

https://security.googleblog.com/2016/09/moving-towards-more-secure-web.html

http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-browser-UA-monthly-201606-201609-bar00