Thinking about moving to SSL, but still having doubts whether it is really necessary? The short answer is Yes. These days, SSL is not just a best practice; but an absolute necessity for websites to ensure secure data transmission between the browser & server.
In the past, the difference in performance/load times between HTTP and HTTPS was often mentioned as a contributing factor in delaying the move to SSL. But as SSL/TLS protocols became much more efficient over time, the performance impact of transitioning to HTTPS these days is minimal at most. Moreover, HTTPS might even outperform HTTP due to features like HTTP/2 multiplexing and server push.
A quick and easy way to test the difference in load times between HTTP vs HTTPS is by using this tool (https://www.httpvshttps.com/). You can load the page over http:// and https:// to compare the difference in load times.
We additionally recommend reading this article from Troy Hunt, as it’s not only a good read (read the Twitter/X discussions about the necessity for SSL), but should put an end to discussions regarding SSL adoption: https://www.troyhunt.com/heres-why-your-static-website-needs-https/
