Way back in 2014 Google called for “HTTPS everywhere” at their Developers Conference. Google wants all internet users to feel safe when browsing the internet by ensuring that websites implement encrypted protocols. These encrypted protocols provide security for internet users when data is transmitted back and forth from uses and websites.
Since January of 2017 Google says they are detecting if a website is secure (that is encrypted using HPPTS) and taking that into account when they generate their search rankings.
That means if your site is not secure, your search Google ranking may begin to fall.
The solution is to implement encryption on all communication between end users and your website. The most common method to do this is with an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate on your site. This SSL technology enables the HTTPS protocol. This is the security that is also displayed by your browser when you are connected to a ‘secure’ site such as a store or other site with sensitive data.
In the past we were always to told to look for this level of security before we provided a credit card number or other important data to an ecommerce site. Now Google wants virtually all sites to use this technology.
With these changes by Google there are 2 bad things that an happen.
1. Your site will eventually lose rankings in Google Search results
2. User of Chrome may see this ‘Not secure’ notice when they visit your site.
If you want to find out for sure if your site is secure or not, click this link for our website security check tool. This is a free service provided by the web development team at Affinigent who will check our your site and give you a report.
