Back in February, Google announced that Chrome would start marking unsecure websites as exactly that when a visitor goes to your website. You may have forgotten about the announcement, but it’s almost time for this new practice to start. Beginning in July 2018, websites will need an SSL certificate to rank in Google results. It may sound intimidating, but if you’re informed it doesn’t have to be!
What is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS anyways? The basic difference is the level of security. An HTTP website is fairly unsecure; it isn’t encrypted and there may be a lot of holes allowing someone on the outside to steal information. HTTPS encryption protects the route between your browser (in this case, Google Chrome) and the website you’re visiting; it ensures that no one can intercept your messages or information and tamper with it.
Now that you’re familiar with what an HTTPS encryption is, it’s fairly obvious why it’s important: customers will not want to shop on your website if there’s a possibility of their information being stolen. In 2018, privacy and protection are far too focused upon to ignore the security level of your website, especially since consumers will be alerted to it much more now.
How will they be alerted to it? When they visit your webpage, the image below will appear right before your URL; not a very good look for a website that could be asking for your email address, name, or even your banking information.
So what are you supposed to do? Google instructed website owners to use platforms such as Lighthouse, which automates the transfer of a website to HTTPS:. However, a much easier way to transfer your site is to contact us today to talk about your options!