2017 IS THE YEAR OF SSL AND HTTPS FOR WEBSITES
Google is Making Security a Big Deal in 2017
Security is the name of the game for websites and SEO today. Google recently
announced that starting in January 2017, Google Chrome will send up a
warning “UNSECURE SITE”
when visitors land on a website that requests confidential information
and doesn’t have an SSL certificate.
In the past, an SSL certificate was only required if your website was
an e-Commerce or membership site. Now, even if you
have an informational website, keeping your website secured with an SSL
certificate is a requirement.
Here’s how adding an SSL certificate can
help your marketing and SEO efforts:
1. Google gives ranking boost to HTTPS websites.
Since 2014, Google has been encouraging website owners to switch from
HTTP to HTTPS by giving a ranking boost to those sites on HTTPS. Google
has gone on record to say that this security factor will be even more
important in ranking algorithms in 2017.
2. Increase Your Website Security.
SSL is the backbone of our secure Internet and it protects sensitive information
as it travels across the web. Driving traffic to your website is pointless
if the site is not secure and visitors feel unsafe.
3.Build trust and credibility
with website visitors. Web browsers now give visual cues, such as a lock
icon, to let visitors know if the website has an SSL certificate. Visitors
look for these items to know that they can trust the website and feel
safe sharing personal information with your company.
What Exactly is IS HTTP/HTTPS;
This is a very technical thing to talk about – but in an effort to make it simple:
HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) – this
is just the basic reference to how information is shared on the internet
in its original form, basically as plain text. This allows anyone to view
that information who gains access.
HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure)
– this is the same as HTTP but the difference is that the information
gets “scrambled” into character strings via an SSL certificate. Only the
receiving and sending computers can then see that information. Others
may be able to access it – but they will never be able to “read” it because
it is so scrambled.
CHROME IS MAKING BIG CHANGES IN 2017
From Jan 2017 Chrome are label all HTTP pages as non-secure.
So even if you do not have private information or e-Commerce, your website
will still be marked as non-secure.
But what makes it worse is that future
updates may reflect that Non Secure message in red as opposed to gray.
Below is how the URL is expected to be shown for the different security levels in the future.
Buy & Get SSL Certificates
- to make visible and secure
1) GlobalSign Alpha-SSL USD.49/ yr
2) GlobalSign Domain-SSL USD.249/ yr
3) GlobalSign Organization-SSL USD.349/ yr