"The connection to www.xyz.com is not secure" Have you ever changed your mind when you saw this warning while browsing the internet? Did it make you consider whether you really wanted to continue visiting that website?  

What about your own website? Does this happen to your potential clients when they're wanting to visit your website? Hopefully not. But chances are, if you've built your site yourself, it may be something you're not aware of, or perhaps it's an extra cost you're not prepared to spend.  

HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is a secure communication protocol that encrypts all data transmitted between a user's web browser and a website. This helps to protect sensitive data, such as passwords and credit card numbers, from being intercepted by third parties. But besides all that, having this security certificate is also imperative in order to rank well in search engines (like Google). Websites with HTTPS are given preference and will therefore rank better, and be easier to find.

HTTPS is important for all websites but is especially important for websites that collect or transmit sensitive data eg. e-commerce websites.

You may be confident that the website you created yourself doesn't have this issue because you've never seen such a warning, but have you checked whether it starts with 'http' or 'https'? If it's just 'http' then the site is not secure.

Tips for checking if a site has HTTPS:

• Use a reputable web browser. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari all display HTTPS warnings for insecure websites.

• Look for the lock icon in the URL bar. When a website is using HTTPS, you will see a lock icon in the URL bar. This indicates that your connection to the website is secure.

• Hover over the lock icon to see more information about the website's security certificate. This information will include the website's name, the certificate issuer, and the expiration date of the certificate.

Designing a website's look and feel is the fun part, but there are other elements to creating a successful website. Don't let your beautiful brand fall flat with a mediocre design,  or have potential clients stop in their tracks because your website is unsafe to visit.

Let a professional set you up with a fully functioning site that's true to your brand vision, functional for your needs, and safe for you and your clients.