If you are a website owner, and you still haven’t purchased and installed an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate you’re going to be having a lot more complaints, and a reduction in traffic soon.
Google is getting more security conscious. On October 27, your website will be displayed as “NOT SECURE” in the Chrome web browser if your website has any input fields (contact forms, payments, logins, private member section… anything the end user needs to type in) and if your website is not hosted with an SSL encryption certificate (HTTPS – with a lock symbol).
WHY IS SSL (HTTPS) SO IMPORTANT FOR MY WEBSITE?
The Secure Socket Layer technology has been around for many years. It has proven to be an effective and simple method of encrypting your communications to and from a website. As a result – it provides a layer of protection for users, and server operators.
Over time, SSL options have gotten cheaper and as we move into 2018, protecting your users is not only a reasonable-cost effort, but is becoming an expectation of sites that perform well.
Through 2017 search results began to reveal the importance of SSL. Nearly 50% of first page sites (search results) operate over SSL full time (often sold as ‘Always On SSL’). For any site that operates any kind of transaction – SSL is simply a requirement for doing business. In future due to support from major search engines, browser vendors, and software developers in general SSL will be required for ANY client interaction. As Google now includes SSL availability in the search rank metrics, there is really no reason to avoid it. Unless you prefer a quiet website.
As early as 2015, SSL for SEO was a conversation. In 2017, it is a recognized trust indicator. Sites with SSL will rank higher in Google than those that do not have SSL, and if you’re investing in your site, SEO or doing any online marketing, it is simply something you need to do.
HOW DO I FIX THIS?
If your website hosting package only supports HTTP currently, you need to upgrade it to an SSL web hosting package so people visiting your website do not get the NOT SECURE warnings. This is typically an inexpensive upgrade but does require coordination with your website hosting provider and may require you to update your domain dns information as well.
If you need help – contact Microtek for assistance.