SSL Certificates https connections & websites in future

Everything to do with using your own website to advertise your rental property. Design, usability, hosting, getting listed on the search engines, optimising your site, pay-per-click, etc, etc.
akwe-xavante
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Location: East Yorkshire

SSL Certificates https connections & websites in future

Post by akwe-xavante »

I too have my own website but i'm with an agent who takes bookings and monies on my behalf.

So my website is nothing more than an internet presence at the mo.

But i'm seriously looking at dumping the agent and doing things myself......But

i have several websites hosted on my own server but i'm seriously thinking of taking payments via a merchant service "Stripe" on two of them, one of which is my Cottage Website. I was looking at using holidaylivebooking.co.uk as a booking calendar that uses Stripe to take payments. This will / does work as visitors get a secure connection (https://) when parting with their card info, but only to take card payments.

However in a matter of months (Before the end of the Year) i can see all search engines and the companies that develop our web browsers demanding SSL Certification and secure (https://) connections for ALL websites regardless of whether we take card payments or not as the new minimum standard.

How this will happen in the long run i'm sure will unfold as time goes by but at the mo all webhosters are demanding extra monies per month / year for each separate domain name to become SSL Certified.

I can see future domain name registrations being SSL Certified as standard in future as long as you host with the registrar. This will probably push up the cost of domain name registration too though. I can see many domain names becoming free (Unregistered) soon as registrations elapse for them as owners decide it's too expensive to keep them.

If you don't have your ideal domain registered in your name because somebody else has it at the mo it may become available as it's registration comes to an end in future.

ALL search engines and browsers will shortly toughen up even further on insecure (http://) websites and display a more permanent, much larger, more prominent "In Your Face" security messages saying that your website is Insecure.

Regardless of whether you take card payments or not which will very much put off visitors from the outset even if you use a secure payment system to take card payments at a later stage via some merchant service.
newtimber
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Re: SSL Certificates https connections & websites in fut

Post by newtimber »

akwe-xavante wrote: How this will happen in the long run i'm sure will unfold as time goes by but at the mo all webhosters are demanding extra monies per month / year for each separate domain name to become SSL Certified.
My hosting provider (krystal.co.uk) gives a free SSL certificate to any domain hosted with them and their premium hosting allows unlimited domains. I expect that most business hosting services will end up doing the same if they don't already. I'm not sure what you are worried about.
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

My host, Fresh Sites, also provide a free SSL certificate as standard with their WordPress hosting packages. I did have to ask for it to be enabled though and it's better to start off with it rather than convert later on.

I don't know whether secure sites will become mandatory, but apparently Google already favours them in search results, particularly if there are any contact forms on them. I also think users will prefer them as they become more educated about data protection and online privacy.

If you fill in an enquiry form without SSL it's like sending your contact details on a postcard - easy for someone with the right know how to intercept and then, at the least, sell it on to spammers who'll subject you to endless junk mail.

I think in time SSL will become the default on hosting packages so all our competitors will have it.

Would it cost much to implement on your own server?
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
akwe-xavante
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Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:19 pm
Location: East Yorkshire

Post by akwe-xavante »

Would it cost much to implement on your own server?
This is partly why i'm looking at the issue, for decades i've enjoyed relatively free webhosting. The cost of a build is about £320.00 (Trade) spread out over many years is nothing given the power and freedom it gives you. However my current server is now nearly 16yrs old and has been switched on 24/7/365/15+ yrs. For this reason i'll have to rebuild and replace it but i'm also nearly 60yrs old myself and tied of it all (IT that is) hence why i have started an interest in property instead as more and more people switch to smart phones now.

Do i rebuild and start a secure server or shut my current server down and move my websites onto a pro hosting company and pay a lot of money every year for it. My domains are registered for over 6yrs one is registered for 9yrs, if i do i'll lose this value i've already paid for and i'll no longer own my own domain names.... Carefull when the majoity of people host with the pro's you no longer actually own your domain names anymore or the website either and when things go wrong you lose everything and it can take weeks if at all to get your domain name back in some cases. The hosting company adopt ownership, you allow this to happen when you agree to there t's & C's on signing up.

As usual service providers including mine punish extisting customers for upgrades by demanding fees to do so but offer these same upgrades as STD free features to new customers signing up.

Hosting with SSL certification with my registrar will cost me £8 a month more than it would if i was a new customer for the same purchase!!!!!!!! and i'll lose all those registration years i've already paid for in advance with them in the process. If i transfer them out to a new registrar and buy hosting i'll lose these years too and lose ownership of them too, but i'll get a cheaper hosting deal and IMO a very poor service by comparison to what i've enjoyed hosting on my own servers all these years.

Secure SSL certified websites (https://) are going to replace insecure (http://) altogether in the next few years and it will become the norm. How people upgrade will vary and how much it will cost varies an awfull lot from one company to the next. For me it may mean having to pay for poor hosting at a price that hurts.... as a typical yorkshireman i don't like parting with cash if i can get what i want for nowt.
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Some rental owners charge extra for cleaning. Some build it into the price. Every holidaymaker I've ever come across wants a clean property.

So, when your website is languishing on page 62 behind all the https sites, when you are unable to display a contact form, when you are unable to display a live availability calendar, then your site will just have to be secured under https.

The argument has nothing to do with cost. Its either an extra, or its built in. Somebody has to pay somewhere, and you will not want a website without it.

As the man from Nike said, Just do it
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

i'll no longer own my own domain names
Is that true? As far as I can tell I still own all my domain names, regardless of who hosts my websites - at least the Nominet records show that I do.

Also, I've transfered the web hosting to other hosts between domain renewals and the renewal period has still run its course with the original registrar. I didn't lose the outstanding years. Or is that different if you run your own server?
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
akwe-xavante
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Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:19 pm
Location: East Yorkshire

Post by akwe-xavante »

at least the Nominet records show that I do
If Nominet say that you are the registered registrant (Owner) then you are the owner until expiration.

All hosting companies are different, but in general the cheaper ones own them you don't.

To find out if you are the registered registrant (Owner) go to: https://www.whois-search.com/. Enter your domain name in the box without the WWW. at the front.

Enter yourdomain.co.uk and not www.youdomain.co.uk.

If you own it the displayed results will give your name and address if not it will display very little, nothing or just the name of the registrar or the hosting company.

Newtimber you should have a look at yours! If Krystal goes belly up, ceaases trading for whatever reason, merges with another company or gets taken over you could lose access to your domain name and website for weeks (I've seen this happen with a number of past customers of mine in the past).

A very small number of owners decide to pay extra to "Opt Out" of having there details made available on the public register, in these situations the results will say that the owner has opted out of the public register and for this reason there details are withheld but it will still display the registrars details and the hosting companies nameservers and the country of registration.

As the man from Nike said, Just do it
we all have a reasonability to do the best we can for ourselves at the best price we can afford. Why buy a car worth £230K to travel to Tesco’s once a week when you live next door?

In the process of exploring what options i have and the costs and time involved to resolve this problem for myself i thought i would highlight to readers on this forum that they may not even be aware that this problem is something that they will have to have a look at in the near future.

I read that people save money (increase profits) by going solo and taking bookings themselves rather than going with an agent that takes a commission etc. I'm exploring the pro's and cons of each route and the costs associated with both scenarios, in doing so i've found that this problem (this topic) was going to increase my costs, there are other costs involved too and at the mo i don't see much benefit going solo opposed to being with an agent.

The extra "unpaid" time and additional costs of going solo are starting to level out against the option of staying with an agent (next to zero unpaid time and no additional costs but a hefty commision i admit). If i stay with my agent i can switch of my server at yet some unknown date in the near future an take it to the scrap man, no harm done no addition costs.

I read that many of you spend a lot of time online "unpaid" trying your best to promote your business and increase traffic to your website therefore increase income from bookings, i'm questioning "would you be better off with an agent and taking a job working on a til at Tesco's or some other part time job!?

I suppose if you don't need the income and it's a hobby then the solo route is attractive as it gives satisfaction and something to do....that isn't ment to be a dig at anybody or anything just a personnal observation and a good and viable reason to go solo with things, i would be more incluined to do this if i didn't need to work and had a FHL, an excellent idea and way forward for some.

I mean no mallice but i do like being contrversial and i enjoy stirring up a hornets nest, i gets people engaged and thinking.
akwe-xavante
Posts: 306
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:19 pm
Location: East Yorkshire

Post by akwe-xavante »

I HAVE A BIG APPOLOGY TO MAKE TO READERS

SINCE 28th MAY (GDPR) NOMINET NO LONGER DISPLAY REGISTRANTS (Owners) DETAILS ANYMORE BY DEFAULT I'VE JUST DISCOVERED

SORRY

Opt out is now the norm and opt in is the exception. Presumably Nominet keep this info behind closed doors now but how do i/we find out who owns a domain name now i don't know, i'll have to explore this later as this is something that's always been an important part of my business over the years. Having not looked at this presumably people will have to make a formal request in some as yet unknown way and pay up i'm guessing.

This shows just how fast things move on in the world of IT and and agian i'm getting tired of it all as it's getting impossible to keep up with everything.

This is also interesting to me because when hosting companies and registrars go belly up (and they do) this has added extra work and costs when recovering domain names and websites for people, everybody now will have to jump through the hoop of proving who owns a domain name now in a more formal way, i'm sure it's a simple process but it does prolong the process and increases my bill to the custmoer at the same time.

Sorry folks i got it wrong...again!
Sid T
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Post by Sid T »

Those property owners who do not upgrade to a https website are likely to fall lower in google rankings.
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