Podcast 156: How Miles Beckler Went From Affiliate Products On MySpace To 100,000+ Subscribers On Youtube

In today’s episode, I’m excited to introduce you to Miles Beckler from MilesBeckler.com. Miles has been helping his wife operate and grow their site, Ask-Angels.com, for many years. Even though we don’t spend much time chatting about this specific site,…

The post Podcast 156: How Miles Beckler Went From Affiliate Products On MySpace To 100,000+ Subscribers On Youtube appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

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2019 SiteGround cPanel Tutorial

SiteGround has one of the top reputations in the web hosting industry. Over 2 million domains are hosted on the platform.

That’s one of the many reasons why SiteGround made my list of the top web hosting services on the market today.

For those of you who are new to hosting your website with SiteGround, you might be wondering how to navigate your dashboard. Fortunately, if you read any SiteGround web hosting reviews, you’ll quickly learn that the platform is very user-friendly.

SiteGround uses cPanel, which is a highly responsive web-based control panel that’s used for managing your settings and account.

cPanel runs on Linux and is extremely versatile. It’s where you’ll customize your site and web hosting needs. SiteGround cPanel is well designed so anyone can use it, regardless of their technical skill level.

With cPanel, you’ll be able to do things like:

• Install WordPress (or another CMS)
• Back up your site
• Review resource usage
• Make changes to your server
• Set up emails
• Connect domains to your hosting plan
• Manage databases
• Manage security

As you can see from this list, the web-based control panel from SiteGround is very flexible.

I’ll show how to perform certain tasks with cPanel, to optimize your experience using SiteGround for web hosting.

Account Usage Statistics

If you want to know how much web hosting resources you’re using, you’ll need to navigate to the “statistics” section of your cPanel menu.

On this page, you’ll be able to see if you’re coming close to exceeding your plan limits.

In the screenshot above, you can see that disk space and inode usage are nowhere near capacity, so the plan is suitable from those standpoints. But if those bars were full, you’d want to upgrade to a higher plan to ensure that your site performance isn’t compromised.

This is just a quick overview. But if you want to see even more information, click on “expand stats” at the bottom left side of the page.

Now you’ll be able to see CPU time usage over the last two hours and 24 hours, as well as account executions over those same periods of time. The detailed stats will also show you all of the processes that are currently running on your account.

You can even view detailed graphs about your account executions and scripts.

Seeing this information on a chart is a great visual tool for analyzing your data. You can view the information for the day or for the week to gauge when you’re using the most resources.

This page will also show the top executed scripts, as well as the top IP addresses that access your site. You can use this data to protect against brute force attacks.

Visitor Logs

The cPanel visitor statistics has three main sections related to who is navigating to your website.

• Raw access logs
• Error logs
• Awstats

Here’s a look at an example of the raw access log.

If you want a quick way to see who has been visiting your website, the access log is the best place to find that information.

This tool shows you who visits your site, but without displaying any visuals or graphics. You have the ability to download a zip file of your access log as well.

As a webmaster, you always want to make sure that your site is running as smooth as possible.

Any problems with your website will impact the user experience, which is why the error log is located in the visitor logs area.

Your error log will show you any recent errors on your website, such as broken links or issues with files. I’d recommend checking this log often, so you can identify and address any errors as soon as possible.

The Awstats menu gives you an in-depth analysis of your website visitors. Some of the top statistics included here are:

• Unique visitors
• Number of visits
• Pages opened
• Hits
• Bandwidth
• Top 25 countries
• Top robots and spiders
• Duration of visits
• Top files accessed
• Top pages
• Top operating systems
• Top browsers
• HTTP error codes

You’ll also have access to a quick summary of this information on a table. SiteGround cPanel will let you know the last time this information was updated. You can always click “update now” to view the data in real-time.

File Manager

With the cPanel file manager, you can manage your website using HTTP as opposed to a third-party app or FTP tools. The file manager isn’t advanced as other tools, but it’s perfect for managing basic functions.

You can access the file manager by navigating to the files menu of cPanel.

The best way to keep your files organized is by adding new folders. Keeping your folders neat will make it easier for you to perform site maintenance down the road.

Adding new files to folders is as simple as clicking the “upload” button at the top of the page. All you have to do is choose the file location of your upload, and edit any permissions for the file.

If you’d rather create a file directly on cPanel, as opposed to your computer, just click on the “new file” button. Although I’d only recommend this for smaller file sizes.

Once files have been uploaded, you may want to edit them in the future. That’s no problem.

Just find the file name and click on the “edit” button on the main toolbar. This will let you make changes to your site without being forced to upload an updated version of that file. However, this is not recommended for big changes.

The file manager also allows you to extract files, compress files, and move files to another location.

Backup Management

SiteGround has automatic daily backups for things files, folders, and email accounts. You can also create manual backups on your own.

If something happens and you need to perform a file restoration, you can do this from the cPanel backups manager. Just click on the “backup tool” button.

From here, you’ll have access to a calendar showing all of your backups. If you click on one of the dates marked with a circle, you’ll see potential backups that you can use for restoration.

Once you click on that date, you can decide what files need to be restored. These are your options:

• Files
• Databases
• Emails

For files, you’ll be able to manually choose which folders need to be restored. Just scroll through and check off any boxes that were compromised and then click on the “restore” button.

SiteGround gives you the option to restore your files without replacing the ones that are currently being used.

Both databases and emails can be restored in the same way as other files. You simply navigate to the calendar, choose the date, and select the files that need to be restored.

Additionally, you can restore your entire account with SiteGround cPanel. This is the best option for those of you who aren’t sure exactly what files need to be restored. Choosing this function does not restore emails. So you’d still need to do the emails separately.

It’s also worth noting that the full account restoration impacts all domains on your hosting plan.

So for those of you who have more than one website, they’ll all be restored to the date of your selected backup.

Security

Website security needs to be a priority for all sites. SiteGround makes this easier for its customers by supporting Let’s Encrypt. All SiteGround plans come with a free SSL certificate.

If you navigate to the security section of cPanel, you’ll see an icon for Let’s Encrypt.

After you click on that icon, you’ll see an active list of your SSL certificates.

You can manually install any SSL certificates that aren’t active. Just click on the domain choose the type of certificate that you want to install.

Once that’s complete, you’ll see this pop-up verifying that the installation was a success.

After the certificate has been issued, it still needs to be configured on your site. Otherwise, your domain could have duplicate content running simultaneously over HTTP and HTTPS.

You might have to rewrite links so that mixed content warnings and errors don’t appear.

To configure your certificate, just choose “HTTPS settings” from the action menu. Then turn on HTTPS enforce, which will force your site to work on HTTPS.

All HTTP redirects will be performed at the server level. This is a great shortcut, so you won’t have to do hire a developer to do it for you.

In order for your SSL certificate to work, it needs to meet the following prerequisites:

• Your domain and subdomain need to be pointed to the IP address of your cPanel account.
• The hosting server needs to control the DNS zone for domain names with a wildcard SSL.
• Temporary redirects need to be removed until the SSL has successfully been installed.

It’s also worth noting that any parked domains not pointed to your cPanel IP address would cause the SSL installation to fail. To work around this, just temporarily unpark them or point them to the cPanel account until the installation is complete.

Advanced Settings

You can also manage some more advanced options with SiteGround cPanel. “Chron Jobs” is something that you might want to consider setting up in the advanced menu.

This will let you run specific commands based on times set by the cron job. For example, you can set this up to delete temporary files each week so that you don’t waste disk space.

cPanel will email you every time a command is run with a cron job.

To add a new cron job, just adjust the settings for a specific command. Here’s an example of what that menu will look like in cPanel.

If you don’t need a cron job anymore, just click on the “delete” button to remove it.

Changing the PHP version is another advanced cPanel task that you might want to use. The PHP version manager icon can be found in the “1H Software” section of your cPanel dashboard.

Click on the folders and choose the directory that you want to change. Keep in mind, any subdirectory will be changed as well.

You’ll also be able to change the entire website. Just choose your new PHP version from the list of options and save your changes.

I’d suggest running your site on the “managed PHP version.” This will automatically run your site on the recommended PHP whenever it becomes available. So you won’t have to do anything manually, and your site will always be running a stable and secure PHP.

Conclusion

There’s a reason why SiteGround is so popular. cPanel makes it easy for its web hosting clients to manage all of their hosting and website settings in one place.

As you can see from what I’ve covered in this guide, the options are extremely versatile.

So if you’re new to SiteGround and don’t know how to navigate the cPanel, use this tutorial as a reference.

For those of you who are considering SiteGround for web hosting, but haven’t signed up yet, this information should make your decision that much easier.

If you review my resource on the best web hosting for small business, you’ll see that I named SiteGround as the choice for the best technology. cPanel was a big factor in that decision.

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The Future of Web Design: Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has been trending upward for years now. In fact, according to Google Trends, the search term piqued back in January 2018.

AI is being used for all different types of applications and technology. In the past, I’ve covered the marketing skills you need to survive in the age of AI.

That’s because marketers have been using AI technology to reshape the way that consumers are targeted. Brands and websites are using AI chatbots to improve communication with website visitors. They’re also using this technology to analyze big data. AI is helping business owners and webmasters gain a competitive advantage in their industries.

But today, AI is also changing the way that we design and develop websites. It’s also going to impact the way we design moving forward.

Traditionally, all websites have been created using HTML. While the code has changed and become more sophisticated over the last couple of decades, sites have become more visually appealing than they were in the past.

Although the technology is still in its infantile stages, ADI (artificial design intelligence) is being used for web design and development.

The thought behind ADI is that the majority of web design can be automated using AI technology. Talks of ADI have been growing over the years, which is what inspired me to write this guide.

I want to share all of this information with you so you can prepare for the future of your website and gain a better understanding of where ADI stands today. With that said, I’m not quite at the point where I’m saying every single site needs to leverage AI for design. I don’t think we’re there just yet.

Instead, I just want you to be aware of the technology and how it will impact the future of web design.

Growth and benefits of AI

Before we dive into the specifics of ADI and artificial intelligence used for web design principles, I want to take a moment to discuss AI as a whole. Essentially, here’s how AI works.

AI technology lets machines and computers perform human tasks. Then, the machines are supposed to learn from their experiences completing those tasks and adjust accordingly to optimize any new inputs.

In order for AI to function properly, the technology needs to be programmed efficiently with deep learning capabilities. All of this technology needs to be able to recognize patterns in the data that’s being processed.

AI is being developed at a rapid pace, and revenue from these applications is growing exponentially as a result.

As you can see from the graph, it’s estimated that the revenue from AI enterprise applications in six years will be ten times where it is today in 2019. It’s already eight times higher than where it was just three years ago.

Clearly, AI is on an upward trend.

The technology needs to be applied somewhere, and the theory is that it can be used for both web development and design, in addition to other purposes.

It’s a common misconception that AI is only used for automating tasks that would normally be done manually. While that’s part of how it works, the technology goes so much deeper than that.

The idea behind AI is that it can be used continuously, at scale, and with precision, using data.

This technology is being streamlined for processes in homes and businesses alike. It can be used for applications like classifying images or object recognition. For example, a smart refrigerator using AI can theoretically create a grocery list for you automatically.

With deep learning capabilities, AI technology will continue to grow and become more advanced in the future.

How ADI works

Now let’s look at how artificial intelligence can be applied to web design with ADI.

In the simplest explanation, ADI can use machine learning to recognize and implement trends in web design. It’s just like anything else using AI technology. Computers analyze data, then automatically make input adjustments.

The idea here is that websites can eventually be made on their own, using AI. This is very different from the way websites are being built today.

Right now, there are only a few options for web design and development.

First, you can learn how to code and do everything yourself from scratch. This is definitely not the easiest approach. It takes time, trial, and error.

Alternatively, you can use website builders that don’t require any coding. Drag and drop interfaces make it easy for people with no coding experience to build a website on their own. But still, this approach requires time and manual work. Plus, you need to have an understanding of design in order for your site to be both appealing and efficient.

If you don’t have the time or the skills to do this, you can hire a developer or a designer to handle everything for you. While this frees up your time, you’ll pay a premium price for those services. Again, the work still needs to be done manually by someone.

Artificial intelligence is a newer method for web design, and it could be the primary design option of the future.

Wix, an industry leader in the website building space released their version and vision for ADI back in 2016.

The concept is fairly straightforward.

Wix asks questions about the needs of your website. Then it takes those responses to create content elements that are both unique and robust from a design standpoint for your website.

Wix will also give you custom images and text if you use their ADI. I talk about this in my step-by-step guide on how to create a Wix website.

The foundation for ADI is supposed to be a machine that has the brain of a web designer. This is achieved by programming technology to observe existing websites.

Then, the technology takes those website design best practices and applies them to a new site that’s being built. All of this happens automatically.

In theory, this would even eliminate the need for templates. Sites could eventually be built without any input from humans.

Applying technology to web design

Let’s take a step back away from AI for a second and just focus on web design.

When most people think about design, they automatically assume that creativity is a requirement. In some instances, that’s true; but only to a certain extent.

Great web designers don’t necessarily need to be the most creative people on the planet or have a background in art. They simply need to know how to apply best practices.

Take a look at the most important factors of web design, according to website visitors.

As you can see from the graph, 76% of people say that they want sites to make it easier for them to find what they’re looking for. Just 10% of people say that a beautiful appearance is most important.

Theoretically, you could design a website without any creativity whatsoever. It’s just a matter of knowing those best practices and implementing them.

That’s where AI can come into play.

AI solutions can be offered as an assistant for people who are building websites. Machines can analyze the design, and compare it to the databases of best practices.

Ultimately, the technology can be used to offer suggestions related to design.

Think of it like software used for SEO. SEO tools analyze your content and give you keyword suggestions based on what’s ranking or what other sites are doing.

This same concept can be applied to web design.

Since the best practices aren’t really creative, the applications can be taught and programmed into machines. For example, optimal CTA placement on a homepage is something that can be learned and applied by a computer using ADI.

Eventually, the idea is that AI will completely take over the design, but we just aren’t at that point yet.

Even platforms like Wix that are using AI in some form are another are still limited. Human inputs such as answering questions and things of that nature are required for it to work.

Examples of AI web design

In addition to Wix, there are a couple of other platforms that are using AI in web design at a more advanced level.

Again, these are still in the earlier stages of development and somewhat limited. But they are a good indication of where the future of design is headed with AI.

AiDA from Bookmark

Bookmark has a website builder called AiDA, which uses AI to create websites. So you can use this platform to build a website, even if you don’t have any design or coding experience.

AiDA stands for artificial intelligence design assistant. By leveraging this software, you can have a custom website up and running in less than two minutes. Here’s how it works.

The software creates a design that’s unique to your needs and business.

All you have to do is choose your business type. There are more than 650 options for you to select, so it’s very specific. But again, it still requires some manual work.

AiDA has the capability to create personal portfolios, business websites, ecommerce stores, and anything in between. Type in your business name, and the software takes care of the rest.

Once the site and design have been built, it’s your responsibility to edit the images and content.

If you’re not happy with the way it looks, just go through the process again, and AiDA will create a new website for you that’s different than the first one.

Bookmark has three different pricing tiers. The first one is free, but it’s very limited and comes with a bookmark.com subdomain. They also have plans for $11.99 per month and $24.99 per month billed annually. Prices increase for month-to-month contracts.

Sacha from Firedrop

Firedrop has AI software called Sacha, which is used for building web pages, as opposed to entire websites.

In theory, you can use this AI platform to build your entire site, but you’d need to go through and do it one page at a time, which kind of defeats the purpose of automation. Either way, this is another example of what’s currently on the market today.

Here’s how it works. Instead of using drag and drop builders, all you have to do is talk to Sacha through live chat.

For example, you could type something like “change the color palette” to get a trending website color scheme on your landing pages.

It’s a great option for those of you who want simple landing pages that are completely customized, as opposed to choosing a template and then editing it to fit your needs.

Sign up for free to try Sacha. Then you can request a consultation to see customized pricing options from Firedrop.

Conclusion

AI is the future.

One way or another, it seems like this technology is slowly going to become apart of everything we do in the coming years. Web design is no exception.

There are already platforms out there that are leveraging AI technology to design and develop websites. Although this software has yet to reach its full potential, I don’t think we’re too far from seeing that day.

So what does this mean for you right now?

You don’t need to go out and start using ADI. But as the technology advances, don’t be so resistant to change. Keep an open mind and stay up to date with the latest trends to ensure that your website has an optimal design.

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Niche Site Project 4 Monthly Income Report for July 2019

Now that my niche site has been revealed, I'm happy to share that the site has continued to grow and progress. In full disclosure, I didn't focus very much on my site, OwnTheYard.com, because of other things I was focused…

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The Silo Structure: How to Show Up In Google & Outrank Your Competition

Whenever you read anything on SEO, it almost always comes back to the same point: Content is king, backlinks are the queen, and you're just the pawn of Google. (of course, my article on how SEO works doesn't say that.)…

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Podcast 155: How Tommy Griffith Went From Managing SEO for PayPal and AirBNB to Starting a Mid-Six Figure a Year SEO Training Course

Today, I'm excited to introduce you to Tommy Griffith from Clickminded.com. Tommy is someone that has been involved with SEO for a long time at a couple of really large companies. He started as an SEO manager for PayPal and…

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Why Your Website Needs HTTPS

All websites need to prioritize security. However, I still see so many sites out there that aren’t using HTTPS.

For those of you who aren’t currently using HTTPS, that needs to change immediately. If you don’t think it’s necessary or that important, you’re mistaken.

The truth is, security impacts the performance of your website.

According to a recent study, 85% of consumers won’t convert if data is being transmitted through a connection that’s unsecured. 82% of Internet users won’t even browse on a website that’s not secure.

Lots of website owners that I consult with seem to think that their site is immune to malicious attacks or hackers because there are bigger and more important companies out there. Why would a hacker waste their time with a small website?

But 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses. So you can’t have the “it won’t happen to me” approach.

As of July 2019, 53% of all websites are using HTTPS.

As you can see from the graph, there has been an increase in HTTPS usage over the last year.

There are still 47% of websites that aren’t using HTTPS. In my opinion, that number is just far too high. That’s what inspired me to write this guide.

If you fall into that category, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about HTTPS, why you need it, and how to get it for your website.

What is HTTPS?

Before we proceed, I just want to make sure you understand the basics of HTTPS.

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. These are the rules used to transfer information on a web page from a server to a web browser. Any time an Internet user navigates to a URL, their browser essentially opens up a line of communication with the site’s server. The browser downloads the information required to render that specific web page.

With HTTP, this communication happens with plain text, meaning any third-party can access the communication between the server and browser. If this happens, personal and sensitive information can be stolen.

In order to make the communication private, websites use HTTPS. So HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure.

With HTTPS, the same conversation takes places between a server and web browser, except the information is encrypted. The encryption prevents third-parties from stealing data.

Benefits of HTTPS

HTTPS uses TLS (transport layer security) or SSL (secure sockets layer) for encryption. These unique encryption keys are transmitted between the web browser and server to keep the communication safe.

Without these certificates and keys, a third-party could pretend to be the web browser to hack the server or pretend to be the server to hack the web browser.

Here are the top benefits of adding HTTPS to your website.

SEO

Any time you’re planning to make a change to your website, you need to know how that decision is going to impact your SEO ranking. After all, 93% of all online experiences start with a search engine.

When it comes to search engines and SEO, Google must be the driving force behind your approach. Back in 2014, Google announced that HTTPS would become a factor in its search ranking algorithms.

Here is an excerpt from that announcement. In summary, Google was telling all webmasters that they are encouraging HTTPS, and will be rewarding sites who use it.

That alone should be enough for you to make the switch. If you’re not prioritizing SEO, you’re going to have a tough time getting traffic to your website. But by simply making the change from HTTP to HTTPS, Google will give you a boost in your search ranking.

A few years back, Brian Dean from Backlinko analyzed one million Google search results. He discovered a correlation between HTTPS domains and their ranking position on Google.

Domains using HTTPS were more likely to have a higher position in Google’s SERPs.

Gary Illyes, a webmaster trends analyst at Google, was quoted saying that HTTPS would even break a tie between two websites with equal quality signals. So making the change to HTTPS could be the difference between your site making the first or second page of Google, which is a major difference.

User security

I briefly explained earlier that without HTTPS, your server could be vulnerable to a cyber attack from a third-party disguised as a user’s web browser. Obviously, you don’t want to put your server or website at risk for any attacks like that.

But what’s arguably even more important is the privacy, safety, and security of your website visitors. As a webmaster, it’s your responsibility to protect these people.

The last thing you want is for people to get hacked or have sensitive information stolen as a result of navigating to your website. An incident like that would be detrimental for the reputation of your website and brand. Recovering from this is seemingly insurmountable.

So for the sake of managing your online reputation, you need to be using HTTPS.

This is especially true for those of you who are collecting sensitive information like names, addresses, and credit card data.

If you have an ecommerce website, you need to use HTTPS to process transactions.

Even if you’re not processing credit cards, other types of websites legally need to keep user information safe. For example, if you’re collecting any health or medical data through form fields on your website, you could be violating HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) if you’re not using HTTPS to secure the information.

Trust

In addition to your duty of protecting your website visitors, you also want to make sure that people trust your website. Web browsers have started to take steps to draw more attention to websites that aren’t secure.

That type of warning or identification makes websites appear untrustworthy.

Here’s a look at the message someone will see from a Google Chrome web browser if they’re trying to access a site that’s not using HTTPS.

If you saw this message, would you continue to the website? Probably not.

So if people are getting this warning as they try to navigate to your site, there’s a good chance that they won’t continue. They probably won’t come back in the future either.

Chrome isn’t the only web browser that issues this type of warning. Users who browse the web using Safari will see a similar warning for unsecured sites.

Just for good measure, let’s take a look at what happens if you’re using Firefox and navigate to a website that’s not secure.

While the text and layout of each notification vary from each web browser, the message is consistent across the board.

Each of these alerts is clearly a warning message, urging the user to stay away from the website in question. Adding HTTPS to your website will improve your perceived trust since the web browsers won’t issue this type of warning.

Lead generation and conversions

This piggybacks off of my last point about trust. If your website isn’t using HTTPS, users will be reluctant to navigate to your website. Even if they do manage to visit your site, they likely won’t fill out any lead generation forms.

Even if it’s something as simple as providing their email address, users will hesitate if they think that a third-party will get access to the information. Especially considering the fact that those third-parties could potentially send malicious emails pretending to come from your website.

But with HTTPS, website visitors can browse with confidence.

They’ll have a much easier time filling out form fields knowing that their information is safe. So in turn, you’ll get more leads.

Furthermore, you can’t expect anyone to convert on your website without HTTPS. People are nervous about credit card fraud as it is, so it’s your responsibility to let them know that the connection is safe.

Here’s an example of a secure payment page from the Oakley website.

As you can see, HTTPS appears in the domain. But next to that, there is a lock icon, which is used by Google Chrome as another indication that the site is secure.

If you click on the icon, you’ll get a more in-depth explanation about the security of the website. It even specifically says that passwords and credit card information are safe and being sent over a private connection.

Oakley goes the extra mile here to even label this step in the conversion process as “secure payment” as opposed to just payment.

With HTTPS, site visitors will have that extra sense of security and feel safe when they’re completing the purchase process.

How to get HTTPS for your website

Now that you understand the importance of HTTPS, it’s time to get it set up for your website.

Step #1: Buy an SSL certificate

The first thing you need to do is purchase an SSL certificate. You can do this on platforms like SSLs.com or NameCheap. Both of these sites have SSL certificate options for less than $10 per year. So you shouldn’t have to pay much more than that, even if you look elsewhere.

The best web hosting services will usually offer a free SSL certificate. This is an added incentive for webmasters to use those providers. You should definitely keep this in mind if you’re creating a new website or if you’re looking to change hosting providers.

Step #2: Install the certificate

Next, a web developer will need to configure your site and install the SSL certificate on your server. Unless you have experience with web development, I wouldn’t recommend doing this on your own.

Alternatively, your web host can do this for you. It may be included in your hosting plan or offered as an add-on.

Step #3: Check for errors

Once the certificate has been installed, you’ll need to check all of your web pages to ensure that it’s been done properly. Look for mixed content errors, which happens if a web page is referencing non-HTTPS elements.

Usually, it’s easy to fix these. However, other times it can be a bit more complex. That’s why it’s important to have a professional handle the conversion to HTTPS. Fixing any errors will likely be included with their fee.

Step #4: Notify Google

Be proactive and notify Google once you’ve added HTTPS to your site. You can do this through Google Search Console. Update your Google Analytics settings as well.

Google will crawl your HTTPS site and re-index it in their database. You could wait for them to crawl it automatically, but there’s no reason to wait. The sooner this happens, the sooner you’ll get the SEO benefits.

Keep in mind, your search rankings might actually decline initially when you switch your website to HTTPS. That’s normal. But you can expect your site to be back where it was (or better) after Google has a chance to re-index all of your content.

Conclusion

Every website needs to have HTTPS.

HTTPS improves SEO rankings, adds security to your website, and builds trust with your website visitors. Switching your site to HTTPS will also improve leads and boost conversions.

Adding HTTPS to your website is easy. Just follow the simple four-step process that I’ve described above.

In addition to web hosting providers, it’s also worth noting that the best website builders and ecommerce platforms will usually offer a free SSL certificate as well. Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Shopify, and BigCommerce are just a handful of platforms that offer SSL certificates when you sign up.

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