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HTTPS as the norm trends highlights

•  It is now the norm for web hosts to offer free HTTPS.
•  In early 2021, for every 100 sites, 97 default to HTTPS (Google, 2021)
•  About 90.2% of the browsing time on Chrome is spent on HTTPS pages. (Google, 2020)

Last July 2018, Google Chrome started to mark non-HTTPS websites as “not secure.” To encourage sites to shift into HTTPS, Google Chrome even promised a fair rankings boost. In early 2021, 97 of every 100 websites already default to HTTPS (Google, 2021). This made offering free HTTPS the norm in the web hosting arena. Not shifting to HTTPS can greatly affect site rankings, and that can be costly for businesses on the web.

There are many benefits to using HTTPS. It helps a website rank higher on search engines, it builds customer trust, and more importantly, it protects sensitive data. Switching to HTTPS is crucial for a website’s security. This ensures that all information gathered on a website is secured and impossible to steal by most Internet thieves. Thus, search engines and site visitors tend to stay away from websites that don’t have HTTPS in them.

For web hosting providers, offering customers HTTPS is not just something that’s nice to have but also a must-have these days. Not doing so can make you lag in the race, especially now that there are many web hosting companies offering free HTTPS.

Read the Next Trend: #5. Fewer data centers