Doing business online requires a lot of investments into its
security. Otherwise, it makes no sense to leave your customers unprotected from possible threats. Even in case you are not offering goods or services, safety issues matter.
The boom around SSL-encrypted HTTPS connections occurred after
Google announced SSL (Secure Socket Layer) implementation would soon become a search engine signal. For those who are not pretty sure what the terms mean we’ll briefly explain: HTTPS is a secure version of the HTTP: it’s HTTP over SSL. HTTPS makes it possible to let only the server and client know the communicated information. Of course, not all sites need such level of protection. Blogs can exist without turning to SSL. But if we are talking about Magento-based E-commerce, you definitely have to pay attention to this nuance.
You should evaluate all the pros and cons of Magento SSL or HTTPS implementation really carefully before making a final decision. While some beliefs may be true, others are simply myths created by users. We are going to break all myths and highlight the truth by pointing to the basic advantages and disadvantages of involving SSL / HTTPS.
Benefits of SSL / HTTPS
No Third-Party Allowed
No third-party will poke its nose into your private or secret information. We would say it is the primary reason for encrypting connections. By implementing Magento SSL, you may sleep well knowing that no one will be able to capture a piece of the information exchanged with your users. But it’s not only about confidentiality.
Identification
SSL certificate proves all the data received by the browser gets originates at the assumed domain. It’s just another safety warranty: any juicy information will be sent directly to the targeted destination with no suspicious third-party or other potential obstacles.
SEO Efficiency
Search engines like Google wish to offer only safe websites to its users. Otherwise, this giant risks losing its credibility and authority. That is why HTTPS connection is one of the key features to take into account. Without proving your online Magento business is secure enough, you risk being placed on the bottom or simply banned by Google. Thus, you are under the threat of losing customers. In other words, in case you run a Magento SSL, your E-commerce has more chances of being ranked higher than those sites without SSL / HTTPS.
From the other hand, HTTPS is a weak ranking signal. High-quality content can be more important as for today than implementing SSL, but we recommend including all possible methods to rank higher in search engine systems.
Credibility
It’s the question of trust. Customer loyalty depends on whether your customers trust you and your online business. Users who understand what a green padlock means will appreciate your site more for having implemented a Magento SSL to secure their data. Your customers then feel more confident to order from you. You won’t experience a serious downside, but the increased credibility always attracts more customers and adds up to your image.
Data Integrity
Sitting among the server and browser allows some third parties reading and even changing your information without proper protection. The worst thing is that the user would never know for sure how and what exactly happened to his or her data. HTTPS connections make this tricky man-in-the-middle experience the much more difficult path to getting your data.
Weigh up everything said above to decide whether your particular online business needs SSL / HTTPS implementation.
Potential Failures of SSL / HTTPS Implementation
A Need to Spend Money
You won’t overcome the need to purchase SSL certificate. These certificates are all issues and lean on the credibility of corresponding authorities. You can try developing your own, but it’s the question of trust: people rely only on the officially purchased SSL certificates.
Identity verification and a number of domains are those two factors that have to be considered while estimating the cert’s price.
Caching Problems
Even your entire content is encrypted when SSL connections are enforced. It means that any proxy caching is blocked automatically. It depends on the system you have chosen to cache your CMS content.
Public caching cannot take place as well. Neither ISPs nor others will be able to cache the content which was encrypted. A business owner should test different outcomes. A perfect solution might be a content distribution network which works pretty well with HTTPS.
The Problem with Mixed Modes
You might have noticed such warnings telling a particular website which is perhaps using SSL is serving insecure content. That means the site is using the assets like ads or widgets of others that are not encrypted. The bad thing is that this warning distracts many users from continuing to the rest of the site. Most of them fear the site might possess certain threats to their computer or privacy.
The problem has reduced after various advertising networks started encrypting their content and applying SSL. However, these mixed mode difficulties are still not completely analyzed and solved. Sometimes they may influence websites with SSL without testing third-party content properly.
