Google has officially started tagging non-HTTPS website pages “not secure”. The notation shows up in the URL bar of its Chrome browser immediately before the website name – see the image below.
Google gave webmasters a long lead time for making the conversion to the more secure HTTPS. It is important to upgrade to HTTPS even if your website does not require a login, ask for private user information, or accept online payments. For Google, this tagging is all about security. The search engine announced that Chrome would eventually mark all non-HTTPS sites as non- secure two years ago. Then, it made a formal announcement of the impending flagging at the beginning of 2018. NOW that flagging is in place. Google really wants Chrome users to know when a connection to a website is not encrypted. Starting in October 2018, Google will start showing a red “not secure” warning when someone enters data on an HTTP page.
So, what does this mean for you?
If you haven’t yet upgraded to HTTPS you need to do so! It is more secure for your users – and not doing so may hurt your business. The notation and red warning signs may scare visitors, causing them to hit the back button, resulting in lost leads.
If you haven’t changed your website from HTTP to HTTPS, contact your web developer and make the change!