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Safety Is On The Top Of Google’s Wish List in 2017

It’s no surprize that safety is on the top of Google’s wish list this year. Security is a big deal to the search giant. Back in 2014 Google announced SSL and HTTPS as a ranking factor, but no one really took notice, that is until now. In 2017 Google plans to tell your website visitors if your site is not secured, and even penalize you in SERPs (damage your SEO rankings) if you don’t comply. free ssl hosting | TBA Marketing

Safety with SSL

Google’s thoughts behind requiring SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protection on websites is to let you know when a site you are visiting could potentially be dangerous. Google truly values their users’ security. In a valiant effort to prove it, starting January 2017 Chrome browsers will indicate a site’s security with an icon in the address bar. In the past, Google Chrome did not expressly label regular HTTP connections as non-secure. However in 2017 Google says “We’ll mark HTTP pages that collect passwords or credit cards as non-secure, as part of a long-term plan to mark all HTTP sites as non-secure.”

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Right now, Chrome displays HTTP connections with a neutral marker. This downplays the risk factor that HTTP connections can have. When you visit an HTTP website, someone else could potentially look at or modify the site before you see it.

Making The Transition to A Secure Website

Some websites have already make the transition to securing their sites with HTTPS (like us) and acceptance is on the rise. In fact, Google stated that “more than half of Chrome desktop page loads now served over HTTPS. In addition, since … we released our HTTPS report in February, 12 more of the top 100 websites have changed their serving default from HTTP to HTTPS.” It’s apparent that safety is on the top of Google’s wish list and it will be boldly labelling HTTP sites as non-secure in 2017.
Example:          blog%2Bimage%2B2 | TBA Marketing
Is your website running HTTP or HTTPS protocol? If your website loads as HTTP:// don’t wait till your rankings are penalized to switch to HTTPS. TBA Marketing is now offering HTTPS conversions that enable better performance vs HTTP sites. Interested in making the switch? Schedule your consultation now!

What kind of SSL certificate does your site need?

Take a look at this helpful infographic:
safety is on the top of Google's wish list
TJ Alcock

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