The Final Countdown: Secure Your Website to Align With Google’s Update to Chrome

October 5th, 2017 by Alison Zeringue

The year is almost over, October is finally upon us, and if you’re wondering what you should be checking off of your business plan “to-do list,” then you should definitely place priority on reviewing the security of your website.

Starting this month, Google will officially be letting your visitors know if your site isn’t secure for them to navigate.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since Google announced its intentions back in 2014. But nonetheless, the time to take action is now. Here’s what you should be looking for in order to avoid Google showcasing security warnings to your visitors and potential customers.

Are You Talking to Me?

A secure site means your site has received an SSL Certificate. SLL uses HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) servers to encrypt and store information given on the site. Here’s more detailed information from Google about HTTPS servers. Not only do they provide an assurance for your visitors by securing any information they provide through a form fill like credit card details, but Google also announced that HTTPS is a ranking factor, even if not a huge one.

So, how can you tell if your site is secure? One the easiest ways is to open an incognito window and look at your site’s URL in the search bar. Does it read  “Secure|HTTPS”? If so, then you’re good to go. If you attempt to input any information in a field on your site and “not secure” reads at the start of your URL, then that means your site is not secure and you will need to contact your web developer, web host, or attempt the switch to a secure site yourself. Google made a handy GIF displaying what this would look like for users.

Is It Too Late to Secure My Site?

Google’s update to how it displays unsecured sites in Chrome is slated for release around October 24. If you have already earned an SSL Certificate for your site, then kudos to you. But, it’s never too late to switch your site to HTTPS.

Jared Jones, one of our technical web developers, wrote a detailed blog post about the importance of having a secure site, steps you can take to switch to HTTPS, and reasons why it may affect your site’s speed and your overall ROI. If you’re thinking of tackling the project yourself, this post is a great start.

Google plans to announce future changes to increase site security, like displaying “not secure” for all HTTP pages, not just those in incognito mode. But, it’s safe to say that making this simple change will increase the trust of visitors to your site, leading to a higher return rate for your business. Contact our team of experts—we can help you make the switch today.

Here are some options:

1. Do it yourself or with your developer or website company, with caution.

Beware, not all SSL Certificates are created equal. Be sure the provider of the SSL Certificate is Google approved. purchasing an SSL Certificate, configuration at the server level is required for set up as well as ongoing maintenance. The process must be repeated each time it expires.

Once the SSL Certificate is purchased, it must be configured at the server level in order to complete setup. Ongoing maintenance is also required, and the process must be repeated each time it expires. When you update your URLs to HTTPS, you must also implement proper 301 redirects and all your assets must be addressed when moving.

2. Let us take care of it for you!

We’ve developed an easier-to-maintain alternative for our clients that fully addresses redirects and website assets, setting you up better for the long term.

If you are a current client, we’ve already reached out to you about moving over.

If you are not a Search Influence client, reach out to us so we can discuss helping you!

 

Images:

Google GIF