Non-HTTPS websites can hurt your business

Google Warning SEO Providers about HTTPS

Since 2013, Google has been encouraging Internet marketing agencies to implement SSL certificates. An SSL certificate allows a website to be accessed over HTTPS, which encrypts information sent between the visitor and web server.

Websites using SSL continue to get an SEO boost since it became a confirmed ranking signal in August 2014. Meanwhile, back in 2017, Google recently announced that websites without HTTPS may now be blacklisted. Apparently Google is taking this seriously, any website that has password fields and credit card forms without HTTPS, face potentially harsh penalties.

What’s the Future

Google will be releasing Chrome 62 by the end of 2017. This is significant, because non-HTTPS websites that accept credit cards or have password fields, will not have the dreaded “Not Secure” warning attached to their website.

Keep in mind, an HTTPS certificate means the website securely transmits customer information when sending such information back and forth between the website and the hosting server. This doesn’t mean that your website is secure, in that it cannot be hacked. The HTTPS status does not protect against unethical hackers.

Today, a little more than half of existing websites are loading as HTTPS. There is increasing evidence that the longer website owners procrastinate, the greater the risk your website has of being label “Not Secure” or worse, becoming blacklisted.

Have questions, contact Web Rocket Solutions today for a consultation.