Link Check: All Louisiana.edu Sites Are Now Https
All of our websites have received a security upgrade!
What is https?
You may have noticed that the websites are now https:// instead of http://. That extra “s” is what tells our site visitors and web browsers that our websites are secure.
All of our websites now use an SSL certificate (also known as a Secure Sockets Layer certificate), making every URL https://yoursite.louisiana.edu.
Why is https important?
There are a few reasons why we made the switch to https.
1. It provides an extra layer of security.
With our more secure connection, hackers will have a much harder time hacking into our sites. Protecting our websites from malicious attacks is paramount, so we’re excited about having this extra protection.
It’s also better for our web ambassadors and for people using our websites. The folks at Hubspot explain it best: When you go to a website with https, that extra “s” in https:// shows that “your connection to that website is secure, and any encrypted data you enter is safely shared with that website.”
Having https also means that login information is safely encrypted so there is less concern about passwords and usernames being stolen.
2. It improves trust.
When you visit a non-https site, some web browsers like Firefox and Chrome will ask, “Are you sure you want to enter this site?”
When you see that message, aren’t you going to think twice about using that site?
With https now enabled on our sites, people won’t see that message. That means they will continue to trust the University and the information we provide on our sites.
3. It improves search engine rankings.
Search engines value security. They’re very open about that.
That means search engines (like Google or Bing) will rank https websites higher than non-https sites. If two websites typically rank the same, but one is https and the other isn’t, the https website will win out.
And as we all know, search is one of the main ways people find our websites, so we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to rank really well in search results.
What's changing for web ambassadors?
With your help, we can make sure all of the links we create are pointing to the https version of our websites. Your current links aren't broken, but updating them to https will make sure that nobody receives an error and our analytics continue to track properly.
For links already on your website
Whenever you’re editing your site, check your embedded links and make sure they’re linking to https://sitename.louisiana.edu.
That’s probably as easy as changing the protocol in the link editor. To do that:
1. Log in to your site.
2. Find the page you want to edit. Click on the edit tab.
3. Double click on any link the page you want to edit. The Link Editor pop-up will appear.
4. In the Protocol box where it has “http://” listed, click the dropdown.
5. Choose “https://” from the dropdown.
6. Click “OK.”
For links you create in the future
All links you create in the future should automatically have https associated with them.
To create an https link in the future, you should follow this tutorial on creating links (now updated!).
Want to know more?
As always, contact me if you have any other questions or want to hear more about this or other web-related topics!
Email me at elizabeth@louisiana.edu or call 2-1626.