In today’s climate of web security breaches, it’s more important than ever to secure your website with HTTPS. In October 2017, Google Chrome started marking HTTP pages with forms as “Not Secure.” If your website already has SSL, congratulations! If not, it’s time.
The Google Chrome update
On April 27, 2017, Google announced on its Chromium blog a change coming in October 2017 with Chrome 62: Chrome shows a “Not Secure” warning when users enter data on an HTTP page, meaning a page without SSL installed. In July 2018, Chrome went further and labeled every HTTP page “Not Secure”.
What does this mean for you?
The world’s most popular browser may show a “Not Secure” warning when visitors try to fill out your contact form. You don’t want that! A warning like that can stop a potential client from contacting you, because they’re worried about the security risk. We can make sure that never happens.
What are the benefits of SSL?
- Trust and reputation. An SSL certificate helps build a trusted brand that customers recognize as reputable. Online shoppers trust the https:// address and padlock over an unsecured http:// address, so you can confidently sell products or services knowing every transaction is secure.
- Search engine ranking. Google uses HTTPS as a ranking signal, so secure websites have a small advantage over unsecured ones in search results, bringing more traffic from customers searching for your services.
Conclusion
Every website should have SSL, and cost is no longer a barrier. Certificates once cost hundreds of dollars per year; today, trusted free certificates from authorities like Let’s Encrypt are available on modern hosting. We install, monitor and automatically renew SSL on every website under our Website Care Service, so your contact form never shows a security warning.
Interested in securing your website? Send us a message and we’ll set it up for you.
About the author
Leighton Smith is Pioneer Media’s website designer, web developer and webmaster, based in East Tennessee. As a solopreneur, he is each client’s one point of contact and has built hundreds of websites since learning to code in 2006.
