Does Your Site Need to Be Secure? If You Don’t, it Could Hurt Your Search Engine Rankings!

Since 2014 Google has discussed/posted that they were considering decreasing a site’s search engine results if you didn’t have a secure site. What is that? An example first. You see it the most when you shop online or even use facebook. For instance you’ll see in the address bar https://www.awebsite.com vs http://www.awebsite.com. Notice the difference between http and https. Here are 2 examples:

https://www.amazon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/

Again, what is it? Without getting too deep in the technology talk, it makes the site secure by using an encrypted certificate that verifies the site is what it says it is. Furthermore, it adds an additional layer of trust for the user and everything else that interacts with that site. Back in the day you really didn’t need one unless you needed to protect someone’s information, credit card number, address, etc. So all shopping sites had/have them. Added bonus: with a secure site it keeps all your data that is used on the site safe from the baddies. Yet another step to keep your privacy actually private!

Now the day has come. Google has decided, as well as other search engines, that you should, but it’s not required, have a secure site because there are so many bogus sites out there. In having a secure site it adds an additional layer of security and trust that your site is and does what it says it does.

Should you do it? Our answer is an emphatic YES! It gives your users an added sense of security in knowing that you’re protecting them (and your site). From a business point of view it usually doesn’t cost that much. There is time to purchase it, install and configure it, but other than that and an annual renewal, it’s not that bad. If you don’t get it done, it will cost you more in the long run as the search engines will see your site as insecure which will hurt your search engine rankings and potentially the trust of your customers or potential customers.