Hi everyone,

HTTPS is not a subject for the not so tech-savvy, please bear with me here, I’ll try to keep it simple, but it’s quite a technical subject…

Google to punish HTTP sites with ‘not-secure’ label

A couple of years ago Google decided to start rewarding sites that use HTTPS in search results. This meant that by purchasing an SSL certificate and making all URL’s https:// rather than http:// could earn you a better search ranking and more trust from Google.

That is Old News, So What’s New?

Google is now taking HTTPS even more seriously by marking NON-HTTPS sites as NOT SECURE in Chrome, from January 2017. This could have a detrimental effect on your return visitors, who are likely to be put off by the fact that your site has been marked as NOT SECURE in bold red letters! Click here to see what this will look like, in the full article from Google…

What Are HTTPS & SSL

HTTPS stands for ‘hypertext transfer protocol secure’ and SSL means ‘secure sockets layer’, but that’s not important. What’s important is knowing that by enabling SSL & HTTPS on your website, you are helping your users stay secure online, by protecting any data they enter, which Google likes.

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What to Do?

You really should invest in an SSL certificate, whether you want us to do it for you, or if you want to do it yourself. An SSL certificate with ourselves costs £149.99 for the first year (including setup), and is then £74.99 per year thereafter to renew.

You can purchase a certificate cheaper than this, but then you will have to pay someone separately to install it and change all the URLs across your website to ensure your site is marked as secure.

Another option you have is to go for our monthly service at just £50, because I now include SSL setup and renewal as part of that offering.

In Summary

Please read the full announcement from Google. I am not scaremongering here, I have been talking about the impact of SSL/HTTPS for a long time now because I knew what was coming (see previous emails and my blog articles here).

Then, give me a call directly on 01226 741110 or email me on dan@gowiththetimes.co.uk to discuss what we need to do for your website.

Thanks

Dan @ Go Web