Google gives the thumbs up to new Squarespace security upgrade
The Espresso version.
Squarespace has just introduced its own native Secure Sockets Layer (or SSL) to all Squarespace sites.
The Long Black version!
This morning I opened an email from Squarespace that made me do a little happy dance - they have finally implemented a native SSL application that you can install on your site.
And if you are on Squarespace, it's something you should be very happy about too, as well as rushing to the back end of your Squarespace site to implement - you can find directions for this here.
While Squarespace has always offered SSL on its e-commerce pages and sites, it has been missing from the basic websites and you had to go through complex and expensive third party applications to apply it. And this is kinda a big deal.
I have been a huge fan of Squarespace for a while now, and if I'm honest, when I first realised there was no native SSL application for Squarespace sites, it had me thinking about whether I wanted to continue with the platform and offer it to my clients as an option for their website.
The fact that they have now provided this service as part of their offering, is a strong sign that this platform is here to stay and play in the big leagues!
If you're wondering whether to be on Squarespace or Wordpress, I wrote an article comparing the two here. The addition of SSL to the Squarespace family is a big tick. It's not glamorous, but it's it's one of the core components of favorability with the Google Gods!
Why is SSL important?
- Google prefers SSL pages over non SSL pages when it comes to ranking your site and SEO.
- To have a best practice web privacy policy, you technically should have SSL across your entire site.
- It's more trustworthy to people visiting your site - and people like that.
- It protects the data being transferred from your visitor's browser.
A simple and to the point explanation of what SSL is, direct from SS.
Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, is a technology that secures the connection between your browser and the website you’re visiting. (You can tell your connection to a website is secure by the green lock icon in your browser bar.) As the web moves towards secure by default, Google has stated their intention to prefer secure sites in their search engine results and browsers. With SSL support for all of our customers, we're setting everyone up to be ready for the future of the web before it arrives.
Previously, obtaining and installing a SSL certificate was both costly and technically difficult. With our implementation, Squarespace is handling all of the setup details to ensure you always have an up-to-date SSL certificate for your domain and that it is properly configured on your site.
So don't delay, get that SSL certificate set up on your site now.
Google will thank you for it.