As of last month Google Chrome (version 56 and later) red flags pages that collect passwords or credit card details as ‘not secure’ unless the pages are served over HTTPS. Thus, marking websites that don’t have an SSL certificate as unsecured.
This latest change is part of a broader Google plan to mark all pages served over the non-encrypted HTTP protocol as ‘not secure’ with a view to making the web as safe and secure as possible.
Don’t collect data on your website?
Sites that don’t collect personal or financial information will now also be flagged (in grey) to let users know that the site is not private. This means that we now recommend that you get an SSL certificate even if your site doesn’t collect data. Why? Two main reasons for this are:
- Google Chrome’s dominance in the browser marketplace (56% in December 2016) and as we all know what Google wants is worth taking note of from a ranking perspective. Going forward non-secure sites will be penalised with a lower SEO score and a decreased digital footprint.
- The importance of creating the right impression when visitors see your listing – a SSL certificate signals to the user via a green lock symbol that your site is secure and ‘safe’ – a small, but useful trust signal for them to see when they are scanning Chrome search results.
Together these two factors will help to drive quality traffic to your site, so act today and get that green flag. Fyi costs vary depending on the service that hosts your site, but roughly speaking expect to pay between £25 – £55 annually for the certificate.
For more information see this article on security from Google or call us today on 01327 810003 for more information.
