Are you ready? I’ve mentioned this before, but the date is looming for you to make sure your website is compliant with the new guidelines. All websites that require visitors to input any kind of text will require an SSL certificate. This will ensure the address bar does not display a “not secure” warning. This would apply to sites that require payment information, but also to those who request login information or other forms, no matter what information is required for them.
If your site complies with the new rules Google is about to put in place, your website address will display with a green padlock. If it doesn’t comply, the padlock appears with an orange hazard sign bearing an exclamation mark. Anyone clicking on that will receive a message telling them that parts of the site are not secure. This could send them elsewhere.
We reported on this back in January, and while it’s hard to believe nine months have passed since then, plenty of website owners have taken the necessary steps to comply with the rules. If you haven’t yet done so, you probably already have pages on your site that are showing as “not secure”. To address this, you must make sure the relevant pages are migrated to https:// instead of showing as http://.
Not only does this look good for your visitors, showing them you’re serious about your site’s security (and theirs, by association), it will also ensure your ranking is better than it would be without the secure connection. Yes, Google will boost a site that meets their requirements in this area, so it makes sense in more ways than one to ensure your site is secure as soon as possible. Contact us today if you want further advice or assistance with this.