Secure your website's data and improve your site's SEO ranking with SSL.
We’ve written about the importance of an SSL before, but like all things web-related, things are changing and we need to write about it again.
As a quick refresher, an SSL is a way that data is encrypted as it’s being passed from your browser to the server. It protects sensitive information like passwords and credit cards from being intercepted. It’s there to protect you and keeps others from getting their hands on information you wouldn’t want them having. Even though a secure connection from an SSL is amazing, it doesn’t mean they’re on every site you visit. So how’s it changing?
Starting in January 2017, Google’s browser (Chrome) will begin labeling any websites that use passwords or collect credit card information as “non-secure” if that page isn’t protected with an SSL. Right now, pages are marked as HTTP (non-secure) and HTTPS (secured) to indicate whether or not an SSL has been installed on that website. Up to this point, Google marks HTTP connections as neutral, but doesn’t necessarily draw a large amount of attention to the fact that the connections aren’t secure. Unfortunately for a lot of people, this is all about to change. Google will begin using the red triangle (now currently used only on broken HTTPS sites) on all HTTP pages.
On top of marking more sites as un-secure, Google is also beginning to favor sites in their SEO ranking if they have an SSL installed. That means if you want your site to show up higher in the search listings, you may want to take a look at purchasing an SSL soon.
If you’re a client of Infomedia, we are more than happy to help with installing an SSL on your site if it doesn’t already have one, and at only $159 per year, increased security to your site, and a potential boost in your search ranking, it’s an opportunity as a website owner you might not want to pass up. If you’re not a client of Infomedia’s but you’d like us to set up SSL for your site, feel free to call us to get a quote.
In the end, Google is trying to make the web a safer place and although it may not be a perfect science or may seem like an inconvenience at times, everyone shares the benefits when the internet is more secure.
