Google has taken another step toward eradicating HTTP. Starting in July 2018, Chrome 68 will help Google achieve its goal of making the web a safer place by marking all HTTP sites as “not secure,” and displaying them as such in the URL bar. With over 58% of web visitors coming from Chrome, this means more than half of web visitors will now see the “not secure” warning.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to most of us. Back in 2014, Google published a blog disclosing that sites using HTTPS would receive a positive ranking signal for SEO. In 2016, Google Chrome announced it would mark sites as not secure if they collected passwords or credit cards. Google Chrome isn’t the only browser to see this as an issue; in 2015, the Mozilla team announced their intent to eventually deprecate HTTP.
Why is Google Forcing Me To Have an SSL?
Google is passionate about its users and product. Keeping your browsing data safe from anyone that would capture your data between the server and browser is one of their main goals.
What Can I Do to Remove the Warning?
Simply get a valid SSL certificate and secure your site with HTTPS. This has become easier and cheaper to do — just ask your host or web developer to help you out.
What’s in It for Me?
Besides the SEO benefit:
1. Data that is sent through the internet is passed between computers. If data isn’t encrypted, computers between you and the server are able to see your confidential information. When an SSL certificate is installed, the data becomes encrypted for all except the server you are sending the information to.
2. It helps your brand by promoting trust between you and your customers.
3. It protects your site from cyber attacks.
4. Your competitor is probably not doing it yet — or worse your, competitor is doing it already.
The moves Google has made to implement this in the last few years have not fallen on deaf ears; developers have listened, particularly the leading ones. Currently, 81 of the top 100 websites have HTTPS. However, for the majority of sites, this issue hasn’t been seen as a big deal, and webmasters have decided to leave well enough alone; with this power move, Google would like to change that.
On Target Digital Marketing is a full-service digital marketing agency located in Orlando, Florida. Through branding, web design, content creation, and social media, we get brands found and talked about online. To learn how we can help your brand grow and thrive, call 407-830-4550 or fill out our contact form. Thanks for reading and sharing!
