Have you converted your businessโ website to HTTPS from HTTP? If not, you may already be subject to a warning on Chrome than your website is not secure. In July 2018, Googleโs Chrome browser will be alerting users that a website is not secure if it still uses the HTTP platform versus HTTPS. This could impact traffic coming to your website if you have not migrated yet to HTTPS.
This is not news to most website developers and designers. Google has been pushing for the migration to HTTPS for several years. Coinciding with the release of Chrome 68, this new security alert is one of the final pushes to persuade developers to change over all HTTP sites to HTTPS. According to Google/Chrome, the majority of sites have already converted, with 68% of Android and Windows traffic using HTTPS, 78% of OS and Mac traffic protected and 81 of the top 100 websites using the HTTPS format.
What Makes HTTPS More Secure?
The reason for the switch is simple; HTTPS is more secure and protects usersโ data at a higher level than HTTP. When using HTTPS, the data sent to the server is encrypted, where it is not on HTTP. This protects the user โ if the data is intercepted between the user and the server, it cannot be used due to the encryption. In addition, HTTPS pages are not stored on computers and internet caches like HTTP pages, ensuring that the user’s information is not left available for others to retrieve.
Making the Move to HTTPS
If your website is still using HTTP, it is time to consider the move to HTTPS. With Chrome identifying HTTP sites as not secure starting this month, it is in your best interest to update your website. This ensures that you will not lose traffic from users navigating away due to the โnon-secureโ marking by Chrome, and will also help protect your customerโs data when using your site. Plus, Google has hinted that there may be some ranking incentives for searches for those sites that are using HTTPS versus HTTP.
To learn more about shifting your website to HTTPS and other options to improve traffic and website security, contact our web development team at Skol Marketing at 612.787.SKOL (7565) or info@skolmarketing.com.
