677 Messages
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44.6K Points
The Importance Of Securing Your Website
A cyber attack happens every 40 seconds. Of those attacks, 43% target small businesses.
To protect your website from this type of malicious hack, you should take one important precaution: Secure Your Site.
In the past, SSLs have only been deemed necessary for eCommerce websites or sites that request personal information such as a phone number, address, or email address. Today, this is not the case. Every website should be secure, for a myriad of reasons.
The first and most important benefit of having an SSL on your site is that it protects your site visitors' information by encrypting data that is transmitted from your site so that it can only be interpreted by the recipient, where it is decrypted. This helps to deter a type of cyber attack called eavesdropping. It is also necessary to have an SSL on a site that collects credit card information in order to be PCI compliant.
Additionally, having an SSL helps to protect from scams such as phishing, where a fraudulent website will try to pose as your business. Having an SSL on your site is a method of verification, letting customers know what site is valid.
By securing your site, you prevent a warning from displaying on your site letting your visitors know that the site is not secure. Having that alert pop up leaves a negative impression about your website. Google places great importance on “customer experience”. To enforce this, starting in 2018, they started identifying websites that are not secure by putting a red alert in the address bar where the SSL padlock should be. In some cases, it will even present a warning screen that tells the site visitor that the site is not secure and asks if they are sure they want to proceed. A considerable amount of traffic could be lost in this exchange. Site security is also a factor in Google ranking, so not having an SSL could negatively affect your site's search engine performance.
Even if you don’t request any private information on your site, security is now the norm. It is expected of sites to be secure because that translates to trust. It lets your visitors know that their privacy and security are important to you. In short, it just looks better to have an SSL than to not. At this point, it is a matter of perception as much as it is actually necessary. However, public perception is important when you are trying to drive traffic to your website.
The only con that people typically tout when discussing whether or not to get an SSL is the cost associated and the time it takes to apply it. Well, lucky for you, Homestead offers a free and automatic SSL when you build a site with Website Builder, our newest building platform.
Get started today!
Account: Create a New Site | Homestead Community
joyce4548
12 Messages
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330 Points
1 year ago
Why isn't my Homestead site secure? For a short while it said secure, then that disappeared. What type of person/program comes onto a site, looks at pages, frequently for a couple weeks? Has same ID visitor number, but is using all sorts of devices to look at site, in all different states, all on the same day or same week. Most worrisome was one device came from the town I was born in. What are they or the program collecting?
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robert9032
2 Messages
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130 Points
1 year ago
My handyman site is not showing up Secure..not sure how to fix
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diane7309
38 Messages
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840 Points
1 year ago
Regarding "The importance of securing your website"
I started using WebSiteBuilder months ago and built a brand spanking new website. It is not secure, https does not work. Your article about making my web site secure says "For SITEBUILDER PLUS ONLY. Do not use if you have Website Builder." I AM using Website Builder, so are there different instructions somewhere for making it secure? Where would I find them. What is more, I understood if I used WebSiteBuilder then I would get HTTPS automatically. Even worse, the Bing search console thingy does not support http, and the Google search engine considers my site to be inferior beause it is not https. I think when I started the web site I checked and I did have https but somwhere along the line, Homestead has lost it. Where do we go from here? Please fulfil your side of the agreement by providing what you promised.
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timothy1248
1 Message
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60 Points
1 year ago
I have a site built with Homestead and I get the same " not secure" message. how do I fix it. Site name is topbowarchery.com and doublevisionblocker.com
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diane7309
38 Messages
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840 Points
1 year ago
That link says "For SITEBUILDER PLUS ONLY. Do not use if you have Website Builder. " so is not appropriate for WebsiteBuilder. Anyway, the non secure version has failed now too. If that does not come back soon I will be forced to take my business elsewhere and cancel my Homestead account as there is no point paying for web hosting when you can't host a web site !!!!!
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diane7309
38 Messages
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840 Points
1 year ago
My web site is back up again after I followed not the instructions given, but I found the correct instructions here : https://community.homestead.com/conversations/websitebuilder/websitebuilder-ssl/5f2a9b3158180958845dab29 and now the web site is back, and now it is 'https'. I presume either Homestead or somewhere else on the internet started preventing non secure 'http' sites from working on 8th December 2023. Why were we not informed of the change?
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azmetalroofing12239
9 Messages
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452 Points
4 months ago
I've had my website with homestead for a long time now. I never really got around to fixing the "NOT SECURE" issue. How do I fix this?
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azmetalroofing12239
9 Messages
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452 Points
4 months ago
I've had my website with homestead for a long time now. I never really got around to fixing the "NOT SECURE" issue. How do I fix this?
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dan6454
3 Messages
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80 Points
3 months ago
I need help adding an SSL certificate to my site...dandlsprinklerscanton.com
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adrion5325
1 Message
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60 Points
3 months ago
Hi there! I do need help please. I built my website many years ago on "Homestead SiteBuilder". When clients visit my site, they see "Not Secure". I am not the most tech savy on that side of the logistics. Can I become SSL Secured without having to rebuild my whole site? www.guidryentertainment.com . Thank you for your help in advance.
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