There’s an update from Google Chrome that may change the way your website shows up online. For those who’ve already added an SSL certificate to their site and made the upgrade to HTTPS, you’re in the clear.
But if you haven’t made the switch, this is something you’ll want to pay attention to.
Effective July 2018, Google’s Chrome browser will alert users that a site isn’t secure if it doesn’t have an HTTPS connection. Since Chrome may very well be the most popular web browser out there, this alert is something you’ll want to take seriously.
How is this going to impact you?
Google has been rolling out this update for quite a while. You’ve probably noticed sites that have a secure “lock” icon in the upper left-hand corner of the search bar.To users, this shows that your site is secure and can be trusted to safely process information.
HTTPS can be incredibly valuable for your site as it creates a secure channel between the browser and the website.
A secure connection is a must-have for sites that process personal information like an eCommerce website. However, this lock icon hasn’t been very effective in encouraging non-eCommerce website owners to adopt the new HTTPS standard. The new Chrome update can be seen as a hard push towards forcing website owners to adopt HTTPS.
Affect On Your Site?
If your site doesn’t have an SSL certificate installed by the time the HTTPS update is released, your site will display as “not secure” when accessed by the Chrome browser:
You might not think this is a big deal. But, imagine you open up a brand new site from the search results and the first thing you see is a page that says, “This page is not secure.”
Chances are, you won’t stick around, or come back to the website. We’re not just talking about losing the trust of new visitors, but also compromising the trust of your existing visitors.
What's Coming Next?
1. Google will announce the lock icon’s demise in 2018 and remove it in January 2019 with the release of Chrome 72
2. Firefox will soon announce their own schedule for marking insecure origins soon followed by Microsoft and Apple.
3. Browsers will start attempting connections over HTTPS before trying HTTP
How to Avoid this Security Warning?
The only way to avoid this warning across your site is to install an SSL certificate before the update takes effect. This could mean adding a paid SSL like Comodo or using free SSL like LetsEncrypt. We encourage you to visit our Knowledge Base articles to find out more about this.