Google will penalise websites without SSL certificates from July

Is your website secure? Does it have an SSL certificate? If not, come July Google will be telling all your visitors about it with the release of Chrome 68. Websites that have not moved from HTTP to HTTPs will be marked as “not secure.”

Google has been pushing for secure by default websites for several years and come July, they may finally get their way.  The company has been using their Chrome browser to highlight insecure sites for a while now and since 2014 they have given sites that use encryption a higher ranking in search results.

How do I secure my site?

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private

In the past, SSL was typically used to secure shopping carts and credit card transactions, data transfer and logins but since Google’s push more websites have installed SSL certificates.

To enable HTTPS on your website, you need to obtain an SSL certificate from a certificate authority (CA). There are several types of certificate and some are quite costly.

Depending on your web host installing an SSL can be a bit fiddly to set up especially if you’ve purchased the certificate from a company other than your web host.

Free SSL with Let’s Encrypt

Whilst some web hosts are still trying to wrest money from customers for SSL, there are others that offer customers a FREE Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate.

If you run a WordPress website and are thinking of moving hosts, you can’t go wrong with SiteGround. Apart from being dedicated WordPress host they also offer free Let’s Encrypt SSL for your domains.

Just like installing WordPress from the Control Panel, installing the certificate requires one click and it only takes a few minutes before your site is secure.

The Let’s Encrypt certificates are valid for 90 days and SiteGround automatically renews those 30 days before expiration, leaving you to run your website without the headache.

Whether you opt to pay £10 – £190 for your certificate, don’t delay any longer in securing your website.