One method that website owners can use to make their websites more secure for visitors to open up and submit form data for is to install a security protocol that will encrypt the connection between the website and its visitors. Originally, the protocol was referred to as SSL, which stands for Secure Sockets Layer, but it has since been superseded by a more advanced protocol referred to as TLS, which stands for Transport Layer Security. Regardless, a website can easily be confirmed to be using an encryption protocol by looking at the address bar in various web browsers; the protocol should display a green lock symbol displayed somewhere on the address bar, and the URL should always begin with "https." A web owner can easily install the basic functionality of an encryption protocol for their website by getting a free certificate for either SSL or TLS. Stronger levels of these protocols may have a cost attached but are highly recommended for websites that operate as online storefronts that collect sensitive personal data from customers. This will prevent malicious entities from externally reading information that is sent from a user's computer and browser to the site's host server, and it will provide other benefits such as preventing email addresses posted on the site from receiving automated spam. HTTPS, which is simply a more secure version of HTTP, has superseded its predecessor so thoroughly among reputed websites that Google will automatically elevate a website's search engine ranking if it has received the certificate that would change its URL to feature "https" at the beginning. However, Google does not appear to elevate a website's ranking further if its current encryption protocol is of a higher performance level that is more expensive, and it does not appear to take away from the search ranking of a website that uses the older SSL protocol instead of TLS. Any level of encryption for a website is enough for a web owner who primarily cares about search engine optimization to not have to worry about missing a baseline level of search ranking that many websites enjoy. For more information click here https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/915xll/howimportantisthesslgreenbarforranking/.