It’s been more than two years since Yahoo! Store owners were given the ability to fully secure all pages in their store via HTTPS instead of just the checkout. While the great majority of store owners have taken the necessary steps to do this, there are still many who have not.
In the next few days, Yahoo! Store owners will be receiving information regarding the next step Yahoo! is taking to fully secure the store experience. This communication will come directly from Yahoo!, however, we are giving you a heads-up so you are fully prepared.
On July 15, 2020 Yahoo! will automatically force the store editor to load via HTTPS. There will be no option for merchants to opt-out of this update and will occur automatically.
For merchants who have already moved their store to HTTPS, this update should not impact you, however, we encourage you to go through your editor and look for errors or anything that may seem “off” once the update is complete.
For merchants who have NOT moved their store to HTTPS, the deadline for you to do so is quickly approaching. While Yahoo! will NOT be automatically forcing stores to load via HTTPS, we strongly urge you take the necessary steps to do this before July 15, 2020, as once the update completes some elements of your site within the editor may appear broken or may not function properly.
If you have a Yahoo! Store that uses default templates and has not been built or modified by a developer, chances are you can complete the installation of the SSL certificate and move your store to HTTPS by yourself following these instructions.
If you have a Yahoo! Store that is fully customized by a developer, OR, you do not feel comfortable installing the SSL certificate and completing the process yourself, we recommend having Your Store Wizards or your trusted developer partner do this for you.
By purchasing our SSL Image and Code Cleanup Service we will not only install the SSL certificate for you, but go through your site to make sure scripts, code, CSS, image paths, and more are updated to reflect HTTPS calls. Anything that is not compatible or will not support HTTPS, such as 3rd party scripts, will be disabled until updated ones are obtained and we can install them.
If you’re curious as to whether or not your store is “ready” to move to HTTPS, we have a free tool that you can use to see what will need to be fixed prior to moving forward. This free SSL Readiness Tool can be accessed by clicking here.
Once again, we can’t stress enough the importance of moving your site to HTTPS prior to the next step in the Yahoo! Store security update plan happening on July 15, 2020.
Serving all pages on your site via HTTPS is not only a best practice to ensure the safety and privacy of your customer’s data, it’s also something that search engines are beginning to require. In fact, Google has recently announced that Google Chrome will automatically direct all HTTP traffic to HTTPS.
By not having your site served via HTTPS you’re risking a loss of search engine visibility and traffic, as well as a loss of customer trust. In the end, no HTTPS can lead to a loss of sales.
As always, we’re here to help make this process quick and easy for you, should you not want to undertake it yourself. If you have any questions prior to purchasing our SSL Image and Code Cleanup Service, please email us at support@yourstorewizards.com.
Scott Sanfilippo began his eCommerce journey in 1994 by co-founding one of the Internet’s first online retailers, TheFerretStore.com, which was acquired by PetCo in 2006. In 2001, he co-founded the eCommerce design and marketing firm Solid Cactus, which was acquired by web.com in 2009. Today, Scott is the General Manager of Your Store Wizards and lives in Delray Beach, FL. Scott can be contacted at scott@yourstorewizards.com.