As we enter 2021, and with the May core update coming closer, having an idea on how secure your site is should play an important part in your marketing strategy for the next few months.
And even though website security is usually defined as a technical issue, it can actually be something tied to your SEO efforts.
Keep on reading to find out how you can give your site an audit for security.
4 Things to Check on Your Website for Security
While there are various larger security issues that can affect your site, here are four small things you can do yourself to ensure your website is covering its bases.
SSL Certificate Expiration
Google representatives have stated that having an HTTPS site is a ranking factor, and plays a big part in a user’s page experience on your site.
In Chrome, if you click on the lock icon that appears to the left of your URL, and then click “Certificate,” you can view the details of the SSL certificate placed on your website:
As you can see, Facebook’s expires on January 30. Most websites’ SSL certificate automatically renews, but it’s a good idea to check in with your hosting company or whoever issues your SSL certificate to ensure that your site will renew its certificate.
Embedded Images and Videos
If you have an older site, and in recent years made your site secure, you may have old photos or videos placed on your website with non-HTTPS URLs.
Try checking some of your oldest pages and blog posts and viewing the source code and taking a look at the coding for the images and videos. The URLs may need to be updated to HTTPS, because if they’re not they could signal to users that the page is not fully secure.
Internal Links
Similar to media on your site, you could also have some old internal links on your website that link to the non-secure version of a page. To help show users that you only link to secure content on your site, be sure to update those links on your site’s pages to promote trust and make their experience better.
Form Captchas
No matter if you have a simple contact form or people are placing orders on your site, making sure that forms that collect information from users are completely secure is something you will need to address.
One way to make sure your forms are as secure as possible is to add a captcha to your forms. Depending on the platform you have built your forms on (internally in your CMS, Wufoo, HubSpot, etc.), there should be different options on the form builder to integrate captcha security.
Need Help Securing Your Site?
We can help! If you are looking to work with a reliable digital agency that is proficient in helping websites be secure and increase their online presence, look no further than our in-house team of experts. Request a free website evaluation today
