How to know if a website is secure: 8 signs to look for

In the online world, staying secure is absolutely essential to protect our vital data and other important resources. One such resource is a business website and how to know if a website is secure. As it contains confidential data and represents businesses, it has to be secure at all times. Through cyber threats, hackers are always looking to compromise businesses by getting their hands on confidential information. Apart from that, an unsecured website is widely regarded as a red flag, untrust, which is a big no-no in the business world. If you are searching for how to know if a website is safe, there are several factors and some of them are explained right below. Let’s get started.

The Various Factors

There are times when you’ll have to deal with an unsecured website. If you are faced with the question of how to know if a website is secure, you can definitely start by making sure to follow these set of points.

Pop-ups & Redirects: 

No legitimate websites will have too many pop-ups or nasty redirects. The websites that do show such material frequently are potentially dangerous to the users. Through pop-ups, hackers can embed malware and other harmful content. If you encounter a business website with pop-ups, it is wise to stay away from such sites.

Look for the HTTPS:

How can you tell if a website is legit? One of the factors is having the HTTPS protocol. It basically tells the user that the website and its contents are encrypted and secure. Almost every website will have this extra layer of security that is provided by an SSL certificate. As the website is encrypted, the data transferred between both parties cannot be intercepted by third-party cyber criminals. Also, having https increases trustworthiness which is a plus for business.

Check for trust seals:

Having trust seals from big companies such as McAfee, Google, Norton, etc. helps increase the trustworthiness of that particular website. These seals are usually placed on homepages, login pages and checkout pages. The thing about these seals is that they give visitors assurance that the website is secure and legitimate. By clicking on a trust seal, you can get further information on how the website is verified and more importantly, how to know if a website is safe.

Active Social Media Presence:

Most legitimate business companies have some level of active social media presence. This is something that fake websites or hackers will not have in detail. Instead of real links, they may post harmful links on their so-called safe website. Therefore, it is important to check for social media presence when visiting a company’s website if you are looking at how to know if a website is secure.

Check the Contact Page: 

How to know if a website is safe? Just check whether the online brand has its own contact address. This includes phone numbers, email and more. You can even verify the email ID by sending an email to the ID provided on the contact page and checking if it gets delivered. Another way is to check DMARC record of the email. If the email is securely encrypted, it must be credible.

Weird website design: 

Another checklist on how to know if a website is safe is design. One of the main things that make a website stand out is its UI. Genuine websites are designed with utmost perfection to deliver a fantastic user experience to the customer. However, that is not the case with fake ones. Most cybercriminals just cook up a website ignoring the core design elements that every website incorporates. Therefore, if you spot any design inconsistencies on a website or don’t match the branding of the company, that’s a fake one.

Spelling or Grammatical Mistakes:

The website content in most legitimate companies will have a minimum quality standard. If you notice grammatical mistakes on the typos or homepage contents or a change in the tone of their wording, this is a clear sign that the website is duped. If someone asks you how you can tell if a website is legit, you can surely tell them to check the content quality.

Check the Domain Age:

If you want to know the answer to the question of how to know if a website is secure, then checking the domain age is a good way. As you see, the domain age of a website relates to the website’s creation date. While it can’t give an exact date as most domains are purchased before the creation of a website, it will give you a rough idea of how long the website has been functioning.

Stay protected at all times

It is our duty to always make our online resources safe from threats because cyber attackers are always looking to exploit our valuable data through innovative means. If we are not careful, the chances are pretty high. By being responsible and giving emphasis to security, we can prevent such unfortunate situations to a great extent. Now that you know the signs to watch out for, you now know how to tell if a website is secure. If you are looking to secure your business website, hiring the services of a reputed website development agency is the logical choice as they will implement the best technologies and strategies that will keep your professional website safe from cyber threats.