We had quite a few folks asking about last Tuesday's article on Google’s SSL threat, and they want to know what to do about it.
For those who missed the article, here is a link to it... https://www.smtusa.com/blog/posts/google-is-requiring-websites-to-switch-to-https-or-show-up-as-non-secure.html
Here are a few FAQs on what it takes to secure your website...
1. Does it affect me?
If you have a website, yes.
2. What does SSL do?
In short, it encrypts the pages on your website.
3. Why would I want that?
To protect your visitors and to reassure them that the information coming from your website is really your company sending the information. Last but not least, to pacify Google so they don’t tell 59% of the world that your website is not secure.
4. What do I need to do?
1. Get a secure certificate installed on your domain.
2. Change all the pages, links, images, etc. to be served from the secure domain.
5. Why are there two parts to this?
Part 1 is the getting a certificate and installation.
Part 2 is fixing your existing website.
6. How much is Part 1?
If you just need the certificate installed, a 1-year certificate is $50, a 2-year certificate is $90, and a 3-year certificate is $120. Plus $135 for installation. (Depending on your hosting provider, there may be a small additional installation fee from them.)
7. How much is Part 2 (the fixing of an existing website)?
If you have an existing website you’ll also need to get your website working off your new secure domain. (You should only have to do the second part one time). As for how much that costs - it's tough to say. It really depends on how big your website is and how many images and links you have. If you'd like us to give you an estimate, please fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page. Be sure to include your website address.
8. What do you do in Part 2?
We make it so the website pages are secure. In doing so, we will update images, apps and widgets, social share icons and internal page links to make sure all are served securely. Finally, we will do 301 redirects on all the pages to make sure the old insecure pages redirect to the new secure version of the page.
9. Is it better to do a 3-year secure certificate?
It is not better, the quality is the same. However, it is cheaper. Every time your website's secure certificate expires, we need to get a new one and install it. So there is an installation charge that goes along with each certificate. Certificates can be renewed up to 3 years at a time. The beauty of going with the 2 or 3 year term is the certificate is cheaper and you avoid 1 or 2 additional installation charges. If you do a year at a time, you have to update and install the certificate each year.
10. Do we need 301 redirects?
If you have an existing website, yes. To the search engines, moving to a secure domain can look like your old website is disappearing and a brand new website is emerging. You want to let the search engines know the page has just moved and is not gone away completely, so you don’t lose your ranking. Google actually said that going secure will help your ranking.
11. If I have more than one website domain, do I have to do them all?
No. You just need to do your primary website domain.
12. If I am ready, how do I get this done?
If you'd like to move forward with purchasing and installing an SSL certificate, call the SMT office at 407-682-2222 or fill out the contact form below with your website address and we'll get you a quote!