#1 – Security (HTTPS)
Having a security certificate installed on your website is the most important thing you can do. Why?
- It protects intruders from exploiting your website.
- It offers a trusting user experience.
- It protects sensitive information.
- It helps your search ranking.
- Beginning in January 2020, Google will remove the unblocking option and begin blocking mixed content web pages.
So, it’s pretty much a no-brainer, not to mention a 2020 website requirement, to have a properly installed security certificate.
Properly? Yes, within the last several years, security certificates have been promoted, sold (for a premium price), and installed – but many websites are still displaying as nonsecure due to mixed content. That means that while some parts of your website are secure, there may be some buried images, backgrounds, links, etc. that are not being forced to use https. So you don’t get the trophy – the secure padlock in your browser’s url window. If you don’t have HTTPS in your url or don’t see the padlock that your site is fully secure, it’s time for a refresh, or at least to get a security certificate installed properly.
“Google announced that Chrome browser will begin blocking web pages with mixed content beginning December 2019. Publishers are urged to check their websites to make sure there are no resources that are being loaded using the insecure HTTP protocol.”
Learn more about mixed content in this Search Engine Journal article.
When someone visits a secure site, they will see this padlock to the left of the web address:
Chrome:
Firefox:
Currently, if your site is not secure your visitors will see this. Clicking on the lock opens up the warnings.
Chrome:
Firefox:
As you can see, it can be quite a deterrent to continue on to a website with these warnings, not to mention your site is highly vulnerable to being compromised. It is essential to protect your website with HTTPS to provide critical security and data integrity.
If you don’t have HTTPS in your URL (https://www.yourwebsite.com) or don’t see the padlock that your site is fully secure, we can help! All of our websites are built with HTTPS encryption at no extra charge, so you are covered and your visitors can feel safe interacting with your website.
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