[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text]By: Samantha Bedford
Update:
Google has officially set the deadline for July 2018. In July they will start explicitly warning users if a site is insecure. According to Search Engine Journal, more than 50% of Internet browsers worldwide are Chrome, so this change could have a huge impact on websites globally. If you haven’t upgraded to https, now is the time.Internet Security
The world is changing. Security has been given a much higher priority for the last few years, and it’s making its way into our very browsers. Chrome is implementing a new warning for sites that are not using https, which will show up in the main address bar (also called the Omni-box). This chrome update is scheduled for July of 2018. If your site does not support https by then, it may have a negative impact on your SEO and customers may be less inclined to visit your pages.
HTTP Vs HTTPS
The question is not should you upgrade to https, the question is when, and with Chrome working against those of you that don’t, you should upgrade as soon as possible. Work through the issues as quickly as you can and meet Google’s “deadline” of July 1018. Did you know that more than 50% of internet browsers worldwide are Chrome? This is a significant percentage exactly why your site needs to be https before July.SSL and SEO Rankings
From an SEO perspective migrating to HTTPS is extremely important.- 85% of OS users would abandon a purchase if their data was sent over an unsecure connection. That’s a huge impact on sales
- Google is looking to create a “Fully Secure Web”
- HTTPS websites load much faster than HTTP sites, and sites with faster site speed are more likely to rank better in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages)
- Multiple studies have found a correlation between HTTPS and higher search rankings
- HTTPS has been a signal in Google’s ranking algorithm since 2014 and is increasing in its impact
How To Get a SSL Certificate and Who Can Help?
There are plenty of tools that Chrome supplies web developers with to rectify this issue, but doesn’t mean it is an easy road. Conversion from http to https can be painful, and some settings can break your site until you engage your provider for help. It can be tricky setting up a certificate, and they can be expensive unless you pay attention and get one that is free, or get set up with a big-name certificate vendor that is guaranteed to work with all the big browsers. We have a number of issues in our efforts to move our own site from http to https. A few tips from the trenches…- Beware of Mixed Content errors– when you have both https and http links within your page content
- Progressive Web App – use Chrome’s lighthouse extension to see how you score. It’s a very good tool that delivers the hard to solve answers
- Lighthouse also helps you diagnose performance, accessibility and best practices metrics. These will all factor into Google’s algorithm updates
