Chrome will mark all HTTP sites as ‘not secure’ starting in July

There are changes coming to owners of sites that currently do not purchase SSL Certificates today.  For decades, using HTTP (not HTTPS) was the standard, HTTPS was only used for ecommerce sites etc… { What is an SSL Certificate?}




But within the next year, this will change where the norm must be HTTPS or your site will be viewed as not Secure and Google will even penalize it in search results, which is not what most business owners want.

 

This is both good and bad news. The good news with HTTPS, is that everything being viewed or submitted (contact forms etc..) will be transmitted securely and in an encrypted state from the browser to the web servers hosting your website. This makes browsing more secure which provides assurance to customers that you take their privacy seriously.

Website Security for Dummies Website Security For Dummies is your guide to understanding the risks posed by unprotected web-sites, the value of using SSL certificates and the what-and-how of different types of SSL certificates.

This book can help you keep your websites and your business safe.

 

As with anything that is more secure, there’s bad news or drawbacks. Here are some of the items that small business owners should be aware of when going forward with HTTPS.

  • There is an additional ongoing cost to obtain the required SSL certificate & dedicated IP services for the website, typically around $50-$200 extra per year.
  • There is an annual cost for the SSL Certificate itself
  • There is an annual cost for the dedicated IP address (required by some sites), required to have an SSL Certificate applied to a domain name (website).
  • It takes more time to add the required certificates and re-install them annually  in order to convert to a HTTP(s) site and obtain the “secure” message.
  • Most average small business owners would not have the know how to do it.
  • When converting a site from HTTP to HTTP(s), it affects SEO and its linkings. Google treats it as a different site.
  • If there are any external links still linking to non HTTPS sites, will receive browser warnings asking if it’s ok to show the non HTTPS related media (images/external videos hosted elsewhere).

If you need assistance in converting your website to a HTTPS, including purchasing and installing the required certificate, just contact us and we can help.

Source: Chrome will mark all HTTP sites as ‘not secure’ starting in July – The Verge