Google is serious. If your site doesn't have an HTTPS certificate this fall, it's going to drop inexorably in search results. HTTPS is the generally accepted standard in terms of website security, and websites that don't come with it are going to get a warning from Google that can't be ignored. A sjans that we at Websters had already anticipated this.
Let's start at the beginning. You hear the thunder in Cologne at the term HTTPS? This is the abbreviation for HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure, with that last word actually being especially important. A website that has "https" in the URL bar uses a secure connection between your computer and the Internet. This makes it impossible for outsiders with bad intentions to intercept your Internet traffic. Thus, no one can go running with your login or bank card information, or viruses cannot be installed on your device.
For a website to go from unsecured to secured (or, in other words, from HTTP to HTTPS), it must have an SSL certificate attached to it. Each domain name then gets its own and unique certificate, which cannot be copied or replicated.
Surf traffic drops dramatically
A lot of technical information with one important conclusion: if your website is not yet using HTTPS, you risk missing out on a lot of potential customers as of October 2017. After all, from then on, Google will mercilessly punish unsecured websites.
Websites that require you to enter credit card information or passwords have already been receiving a warning in Google Chrome for several months. Starting in October, unsecured websites that ask for any kind of data will have to pay for it. In Incognito mode, even every page will be notified, whether data is requested or not.
'Not secure' for an unsecured URL is an unmistakable message. And that has had its effect: since the more prominent warnings were introduced early this year, unsecured websites have already lost as many as 23% of their visitors.
Websters loves Google (and vice versa)
A secure HTTPS website may seem trivial to an Internet layman, but it is more important than ever. Especially when you know that in addition to an annoying warning, unsecured websites also show up lower in search results.
A message Websters has well understood. We carry a good relationship with Google pretty highly, and so our Business, Commerce and Custom customers were already assigned an HTTPS and corresponding SSL certificate at the beginning of 2017.
Don't miss out on customers, contact us to find out what we can do for you!